Prenuptial Agreement
by Violets and Lilies
Summary: Chad and Lonnie are getting married, but when Chad lays out some pre-conditions and Lonnie doesn't agree, will Ben's solution bring them back together?
1. Ben's Solution

"Excuse me, everyone!" Chad called loudly, over the general din of the cafeteria, "I have an announcement to make!"

He paused to smile down at Lonnie as the room quieted down and she beamed in return. Then, after taking a few deep breaths to steady himself, which only added to the suspense, he called out, "Lonnie and I are getting married!"

As a wave of excitement and cheers circled the room, he gloated.

"Now, I know that you're all wondering when the big day is," he continued, as the chatter died down, "but we've agreed to delay things for a little while because my sweet Lonnie needs a little help in the domestic department." He flashed a huge smile, before finishing, "But, the delay won't be too long because she has agreed to go to Wife Camp, hosted by _my mother_ , of course."

" _What_?" Lonnie gasped, unconsciously shaking her head, "You never said—"

"Lonnie," Chad said tensely, leaning down to whisper in her ear through gritted teeth, "Don't make a scene, honey. You're embarrassing us."

"I'm embarrassing _us_?" she hissed, clutching his shoulder before he could straighten, "Chad I never agreed to go to _Wife Camp_ —you never even mentioned it!"

"But, honey," he continued, forcing himself to keep a straight face so that no one would see how irked he was; he loved attention, but not like this, "It's kind of obvious to everyone that you need training. I mean, _your mother_ isn't exactly known for her domestic prowess."

" _My mother_ brought honor to her family in other ways," Lonnie growled, now on the verge of tears, "Being good at cooking and cleaning and sewing isn't everything, you know."

"Honey, please," Chad repeated, his voice still strained, "don't be ridiculous."

Finally, Ben, who was sitting within earshot at the table to the right with Mal, Doug, and Evie, couldn't take it anymore. He walked over and plopped down in between them, "May I butt in for a minute, guys?"

"Ben, you have to tell her that she has to go to Wife Camp," Chad insisted quietly, but firmly, "I can't marry her if she doesn't know how to cook and clean and sew." Forcing a smile, he muttered privately, "And I'm not going to embarrass myself by retracting my announcement."

Ben shook his head at Chad's attitude, but he turned to Lonnie first. "You know, Lonnie," he said, "I know Wife Camp _sounds_ insulting, but it doesn't—"

" _What_?" she interrupted, her face growing red, "I can't believe that you're taking _his_ side, Ben!"

" _Whoa, whoa_ ," Ben said, quickly holding up his hands, "All I'm saying is that spending a little time with your future mother-in-law before your wedding can't be bad, no matter what the pretext."

"But I've known Cinderella all my life," Lonnie protested, "I don't need to go to Wife Camp!"

"Okay," Ben agreed, "You've known Cinderella all your life, but have you really spent time with her? How well do you really know her—I mean, on a daughter-in-law-mother-in-law level."

Lonnie glared at him, speechless for a minute, then she laid into him angrily. "You're one to talk, you know," Pointing her finger at his chest, she continued, "But, I don't see _you_ in any hurry to hang out with _Mal's mom."_

" _Hey_!" Ben protested in shock, defending himself, "I'd love to get to know Maleficent...if I could."

It baffled him that she would even bring that up.

"Yeah," Mal defended him, coming over to the table, "But, he can't because _I_ turned my mom into a lizard."

"Yeah," Lonnie insisted, highly annoyed with the whole situation, "You two are a perfect example of great family dynamics!"

"Well, now, wait a minute, Lonnie," Ben broke in again, "You didn't let me finish." He paused, making sure that he had both her and Chad's attention, "I was going to add that I think that if Chad wants _you_ to go to Wife Camp with his mom, then _he_ should be willing to hang out with Shang for the same amount of time."

Chad's expression rapidly changed from confident to astounded.

" _Hey, great idea_!" Mal said, her eyes lighting up, "But, what would we call it?" She paused to consider, then exclaimed excitedly, "Hey, I know, let's call it _Man_ Camp!"

" _Whoa_ , whoa, wait a minute!" Chad broke in, finding his tongue, "I'm already a man!"

"Hey, Chad," Ben reminded him, "Fair's fair, right? If you want Lonnie to go to Wife Camp, then you should be willing to go to Man Camp."

"But, Ben," Chad argued, "Dad taught me how to be a man." He smiled loftily, "I mean, I was voted most likely to be charming this year, was I?" He pointed at Lonnie disappointingly, " _She_ was voted cutest tomboy."

"What's wrong with that?" Lonnie snapped.

"No, I think it's a good idea," Ben said, holding his ground, "If you want Lonnie to spend time with your mom, then you should be willing to spend time with her dad."

"Now, I like that idea!" Lonnie said, her eyes lighting up too.

"Aw, come on, Lonnie!" Chad protested, "You know I'm-"

"What I know is that if you want _me_ to go to _Wife Camp_ , then _you_ should go to _Man Camp_." she interrupted, stating it unequivocally and crossing her arms over her chest.

"I think it's a great idea too, Chad," Doug said, as he and Evie joined them, "I think that you'd have fun hanging out with Shang, if you gave it a chance."

"Me too," Evie stated, kissing her boyfriend's cheek, "It would be so great if Doug and I could have a great relationship with both sides of our family."

"Yeah," Mal said softly, a touch of sadness in her voice, "Being a VK puts a new perspective on family dynamics." She smiled at Chad and Lonnie, "You guys are really lucky, you know."

Mal's statement made Chad think. He and Lonnie actually were really lucky. It was a sobering idea, even though he'd never thought of it like that before.

But still, he hesitated, not completely comfortable with the idea.

"You know, Chad," Ben said, seeing that his friend was wavering, "Shang gets final say on whether you can marry Lonnie anyway. Do you really think that he'll let you have her hand if you aren't willing to spend one-on-one time with him?"

Chad winced; Ben was right about that.

"Alright," he said, sheepishly, "I'll do it."

As he spoke, he found Lonnie's hand under the table, then pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

"Great!" Ben said, grinning widely, "I'll arrange everything."

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : This chapter was vaguely inspired by a pretty hilarious episode in my own family. Future chapters will similarly be inspired by various family episodes.

I'm going to alternate between Wife Camp and Man Camp in the following chapters and then, possibly, a final chapter to bring everyone back together...maybe for the wedding.

For you Descendants, 2015 readers who aren't used to reading my stories, I should warn you that I'm becoming increasingly bad at updating in a timely manner but, hopefully, the waits won't get to extreme.


	2. Wife Camp Day 1

Lonnie peered nervously out of the limousine's window as it pulled up to Prince Charming and Cinderella's castle to see Chad's mother standing on the wide evenly mowed lawn, waving furiously. Even the white marble castle, which was bathed in the soft golden glow of the waning sunrise, couldn't outshine this famously flawless wife and mother.

Her heart started pounding as she wondered what she'd gotten herself into.

"Oh, Lonnie!" Cinderella squealed, throwing the door open almost before the vehicle had completely stopped, "I'm so excited!"

Even though she'd been to Chad's home thousands of times, Lonnie was stunned speechless by this kind of reception and couldn't help a reflexive cringe when the queen wrapped her into a smothering hug.

"Oh, we're going to have such a wonderful time—," Cinderella continued, then stopped abruptly and blushed deeply.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she cried, "Am I being a bit much, dear? I'm just so excited that I didn't even think. You can't imagine how much I've dreamed about Chad finally get married and settling down and now that dream is finally coming true!" She giggled excitedly, trying to smother it behind her hand.

"My son is, as you know, quite particular so I used fret about him ever finding someone and Prince Charming was absolutely _dead set_ against hosting another ball, no matter how many times I reminded him that that's how we met, so I didn't know what to do, but now-"

"Well, never mind all that," she, breaking off suddenly, "Let's go inside. I made chocolate chip cookies for us to have while we plan our day."

"Plan our day?" Lonnie echoed, wide-eyed, her mind spinning.

"Oh, my yes, there's just so much to do," Cinderella answered, "Prince Charming and I were so thrilled when Chad told us that you'd accepted that we gave all the servants a week off and now there's a whole castle too—"

Lonnie skidded to a stop and spun around to face the queen, her eyes almost bulging out of her head, " _You what_? Oh, no, no, no! You— _I can't_ —"

"Shh, shh, Lonnie," Cinderella soothed, gripping her arm, "It'll be alright. I promise you." She took the teenager's face in her hands. Staring into the wide frightened eyes, and repeated herself for emphasis, " _I promise_ , Lonnie."

As they resumed walking, Cinderella casually wrapped an arm around her charge's waist to steady her. She also continued to reassure her,, "You, me, the mice, and the birds...we'll get everything done, you'll see."

"It's just amazing how quickly I've gotten out of practice." she continued, as they entered the kitchen and surveyed the mess, "This wouldn't have fazed at all when I lived with my stepfamily, but now the servants have spoiled me rotten!"

"I'll help you," Lonnie offered quietly, without thinking. Then she remembered that she'd never done housework before and, blushing deeply, tried to correct herself, "I mean-"

"That's the spirit, dear!" Cinderella encouraged, ignoring the teenager's suddenly red face, "But, let me call the others first; they've been dying to help." Glancing at a small crack in the wall, she called, "Jaq. Gus; Tell everyone that Lonnie is here, please."

Next she opened the big bay window over one of the counters and whistled a gentle melody, calling her bird friends. They came almost immediately, landing on her outstretched fingers, hand, and arm.

Lonnie stood in awe of the way that Cinderella communicated with her little animal friends and quickly turned away, knowing that she could never measure up. When she spied the plate of cookies, she asked, "How did you know that chocolate chip is my favorite?"

Pausing, she corrected herself, "Oh, right, I've probably mentioned it a thousand times before, haven't I?"

"Actually, your dad told me yesterday," Cinderella answered, setting the young mouse that she holding on the counter, "I had to, ah, deliver some things for Chad's Man Camp yesterday." She smiled, "But we need not go into that right now. Come sit, eat, and we'll plan things."

"The kids have been beside themselves to help," Jaq said, as he passed out cookie crumbs to the young mice and birds, "ever since we told them about the time that we helped you with your dress."

Cinderella sighed happily, remembering that night so long ago, then she shook away the daydream, "It was a wonderful thing that you all did for me and I'll treasure that memory forever, but remember what Fairy Godmother says now; if you focus on the past, then you'll miss the future." She squeezed Lonnie's hand, "And the future looks so bright!"

The little group enjoyed the soft warm cookies in silence for a few minutes before Cinderella picked up a piece of paper that had gone unnoticed before, "Let's see, for today, we'll need to clean up the kitchen, make the beds upstairs, mend some of Chad's shirts, clean all the fireplaces, paint one of the walls in the man cave, and-oh, I want to show you how to make Chad's favorite kind of cake."

"Hey, honey?" Prince Charming suddenly appeared in the doorway. "Oh, hi, Lonnie, It's great to see you! Cinderella and I are thrilled that you're willing to take Chad on." He paused, "Ah, honey, can you come help me for a minute?"

"Oh, well, ah, sure," she said, quickly scanning the room and giving Lonnie a small apologetic smile,, "Will you be alright to start cleaning up here, Lonnie? Hopefully, I won't be too long."

"She'll be right back," Prince Charming assured.

"Oh, ah, sure," Lonnie answered, her voice squeaking, "I have help, don't I?"

"That's right," Cinderella nodded, "They're the _best_ helpers ever!"

"So, guys?" Lonnie asked, once the royals were gone, "Are you ready to clean this place up? I don't know the first thing about what to do."

"Yes, yes, yes!" the youngsters jumped around excitedly, "We can do it; we can do it. We can help our Lonnie!"

"Settle down, kids!" Jaq admonished authoritatively, "Work doesn't involve play!"

He turned to Lonnie and began to advisor her, "Wash the dishes first. Just rinse them off in the sink, load them into the dishwasher, then put in the soap and let them wash on their own. It's easy."

"Okay," Lonnie agreed, hastily starting the chore.

She worked alone because the dishes were too heavy for the little animals and everything went smoothly until she couldn't find the dishwasher detergent. After looking under the sink and in multiple cupboards, she was beginning to get frustrated. Even the mice and birds didn't know where to look.

It should be easy to find soap, shouldn't it, she thought, maybe I'm not cut out for this.

"What about this?" Gus asked, using all his weight to push a bottle of _Dawn_ across the counter.

"I don't know…" Lonnie hesitated, "That don't look like what grandmother uses…"

"I've seen the maids—and sometimes Cinderella—use it to wash dishes," a young mouse piped up, enthusiastically cheering Gus on. The young birds twittered excitedly in agreement.

"I don't know…"

"But you said that you don't know what to do, Lonnie," another youngster pointed out, indigently putting his front paws on his hips despite a glare from his mother.

"Well…" she began wavering, "Alright." Gingerly, she squeezed some of the dish soup into the dishwasher, closed the door, and hit the start button, "Now, let's finish cleaning up while they wash."

"Can you help me wipe off the counters?" she added, "This kitchen is huge!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" the youngsters cried, happy to be doing something.

The younger mice and birds took up the task of pulling dishtowels off of racks and the adult birds got them wet in the hot water that Lonnie supplied from the faucet. The older mice stayed busy by scrubbing the stove top with tiny brushes.

With the room a bustle of activity, Lonnie's frustration quickly melted away.

"Help, help!" frantic little squeaks suddenly broke everyone's concentration. Lonnie whirled around to see a young mouse flailing wildly in the soap suds that were bubbling out of the dishwasher and running onto the floor. Reacting quickly, she scooped him up before he got swamped and handed him to Jaq on the counter.

"Oh, my word," she said slowly, her eyes growing as wide as saucers as she stared at the mess, "Oh, my word!"

"Wh-what happened?" a little mouse asked, mystified.

"That doesn't happen when Cinderella does the dishes," another one added, then shrank back when her mother gave her a look, "I-I mean—"

Lonnie was too preoccupied to be bothered. She quickly turned off the dishwasher and started grabbing handfuls of dry towels. Dropping to her hands and knees, she frantically began trying to sop up the ever growing mound of foam.

" _Oh, oh, oh_ ," she muttered, " _How did this happen_?"

Despite desperately trying to clean up the mess, her ears didn't miss the soft gasp that came from behind her; she whirled around to see Cinderella standing in the doorway, muffling giggles behind her hand.

"Oh, Lonnie," she said, when the girl's face turned crimson, "Don't worry a thing about it. There's absolutely no harm done." She stooped down to help with the mopping, and added, "In fact, all this soap will help clean up the rest of the room."

"I just don't understand how it happened..." Lonnie said, trying to explain herself.

Cinderella shook her head and patted the teenager's shoulder, "You don't need to explain yourself, dear. I understand."

"You do?"

"Certainly," she nodded at the _Dawn_ sitting on the counter, "That's for washing dishes by hand in the sink. There's a box of other detergent—it's called _Cascade_ —in the cupboard above the refrigerator for washing them in the dishwasher."

"Oh," Lonnie was quiet for a moment, "How did you know that I used the _Dawn_?"

"Well, it is what's on the counter."

Lonnie laughed sheepishly, "Oh, right." Then her expression clouded and she glanced up at the little mouse in Jaq's arms, "I'm afraid that he got caught in the suds."

"But, he's alright," Jaq added quickly when Cinderella's face paled, "He's just catching his breath."

"Oh, I'm so thankful," the queen sighed with relief, holding her hand on her chest to steady her heart, "I can't imagine losing someone." She nodded at the crack in the wall, "Why don't you take him home and put him in bed; he'll recover faster there."

After Jaq and his young son disappeared into the wall, the rest of them went back work and with the near tragedy behind them, the older mice told Lonnie a story about the time that they outsmarted the cat, Lucifer, and scared Cinderella's stepsisters.

"And got me in trouble with stepmother," Cinderella reminded them with a smile.

" _Oh, wow_!" Lonnie gasped, looking around, "We're finished already!"

Cinderella grinned, "Well, it's like what Mary Poppins said, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. That's what a good conversation is."

"Sometimes I like to whistle while I work or hum a merry tune," she added.

"Really? I don't know how to whistle...and I'm pretty sure that I can't carry a tune."

"Oh, girl! Just do it like Jiminy Cricket said, pucker up and blow!"

"Well," the queen added, getting to her feet and pulling Lonnie up, "Let's get on with the next thing. There's plenty to do today."

"Okay," Lonnie agreed, her confidence soaring, "What's next?"

"I think we ought to make the beds upstairs, in case someone stops by for the night." Cinderella answered, "Our doors are always open to the weary hero, heroine, or their child." She paused for a moment, cocking her head with a small smile, "And now we're open to several villain kids too!"

Lonnie nodded silently, a tiny bit of trepidation rising within her; she'd never made a bed before. Her heart rate increased even more when they reached Chad's room.

"My son," Cinderella explained, "is, as you know, quite fastidious and you'll find that the way his bed is made is no exception." She gave an involuntary sigh, "Once, when he wasn't much older than a toddler, he refused to go to sleep until his nurse made his bed correctly."

Why is she telling me this? Lonnie thought, gulping, I don't need to know that, do I?

"He hasn't pitched a fit like that since then," Cinderella continued, looking relieved, "Although, I did see him speaking to a new servant about her technique last week." She nodded at the mound of sheets on the floor, "Let's get started. First, we'll need to shake the wrinkles out; I'm afraid that those sheets have been left on the floor longer than usual, what with the servants off this week. If we'd gotten them on the bed straight out of the dryer, they'd be wrinkle free."

"Now," she went on, when they'd finished shaking them out, "take the fitted sheet-that's the one with the elastic at the corners-and slip it over the mattress. Make sure the elastic fits over the corners or the sheet won't fit correctly. Next, lay the top sheet over it and make sure that it hangs evenly off both sides."

"Oh, not quite, dear, pull your side down a little more," she coached, as Lonnie followed her instructions, "That's okay; I'll just pull it back on the other side. There, that's better."

"Now, when you tuck in the sheet—and Chad get's extremely agitated when this isn't done correctly—you tuck it in at foot of the bed, then make a triangle at the corner and lift the top of it out of the way. Next, tuck in the bottom of the triangle and lastly tuck in the top part of the triangle. Make sure that the sheet is kept smooth throughout the process; Chad can't stand the sight of wrinkles."

"Oh, dear," she added, looking at the finished product, "That's a bit lumpy, dear. Try again."

Lonnie did as she was told, frowning in concentration, but Cinderella said that it still wasn't up to par. Again and again and again Lonnie tried and failed and soon she became fed up.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this," she said, sinking to the floor and burying her head into the sheet; tears came to her eyes.

"Nonsense," Cinderella encouraged, "Don't give up now."

"But I'm no good!" Lonnie protested strongly, "I've tried and I've tried and I've tried and I still can't do it!"

"But, it's only your first time, dear," Cinderella countered gently, "I've never known you to give up so easily."

Lonnie frowned and sighed; Cinderella had struck a nerve so she gathered herself to try again and this time Cinderella came to help.

See, there!" she praised, when they'd finished, "I knew you could do it!"

Lonnie laughed weakly, "Yeah, with you helping."

"Everyone needs help from time to time."

"I bet that you didn't."

"That's not true. When my mother taught me how to make a bed, I made all the same mistakes that you just did." She took Lonnie's hand, "Come on, there are plenty of beds left to practice on."

"How many rooms does your castle have?"

"Too many to count, dear."

Groaning inwardly, Lonnie steeled herself for a long day making and remaking beds. Things seemed hopeless. She wondered if this was how her mother had felt when she first joined the military.

Her thoughts turned out to be prophetic as she made mistake after mistake and had to redo practically every step. Cinderella was always patient, but Lonnie felt increasingly inept alongside her.

"Don't compare yourself to me, Lonnie," the queen said tenderly, reading the teenager's thoughts.

"But, how can I not?" Lonnie argued, her angst rising, "I can count the beds that I've made today on _one hand_ and you said that there's innumerable rooms in this palace. How will I ever become a good wife for Chad?"

"Lonnie, Lonnie," Cinderella interrupted, anxiously taking the girl's hands, "First off, Prince Charming and I employ hundreds of people. None of them make all the beds and I have no illusions that you will either. But, they're _beds_ , dear. They can remain unmade. And if we actually have enough guests to fill this palace to the brim, then we'll have plenty of extra hands to help us make beds for them."

"And, second," she said, her voice firmer, "Chad doesn't know what he'll want _or need_ from his wife because he hasn't got one yet and he certainly hasn't lived life yet, so don't despair because you can't yet make a silly ole bed correctly."

"Now, come on," she said, sensing that the girl needed a break, "We'll do something different. I want to show you how to sew a button on a shirt."

"Okay," Lonnie agreed, hope rising in her heart again, "Dad taught me a little bit about sewing. He said that it's important to know when you're on the battlefield because you might need to stitch up a wound or maybe make your own shelter by sewing something together."

"Oh, my goodness! I've never thought of sewing like _that_ before."

"Well, I've never sewed a button," Lonnie said.

Cinderella laughed, "I'm quite certain that it has nothing on sewing up wounds or sewing shelters. In fact, it seems rather lame compared to those; I bet it'll be easy for you."

Lonnie waited in a chair while Cinderella rummaged through a closet. "I like to keep up with sewing," the queen explained, "regardless of the fact that my ladies-in-waiting think of it as work and hate it when I do it. I can't seem to make them understand that it's fun for me."

I'll probably make a mess of this too, the teenager thought, as she silently reviewed how her day was going.

"Here it is," Cinderella said, pulling out a box laden with spools of thread, needles, scraps of fabric, a pair of scissors, and a number of other things that Lonnie couldn't identify.

"First, thread the needle and tie a small knot at the end of the thread," Cinderella demonstrated as she taught, "Then slide the thread up through the backside of the fabric and through one of the button holes, all the way to the knot."

"Next, you go back down through the other hole and back up through the first one. Repeat the process four or five times until the button is securely attached to the fabric, then make another knot and clip off the excess thread with the scissors. I got these two-hole buttons out for you to practice on because they're the simplest to learn with, but if the button had four holes, then you'd use a criss-cross pattern to sew the thread through the holes."

"Okay," she said, finishing, "Do you want to give it a try?"

Lonnie nervously took the needle, thread, and fabric in hand, but she soon discovered that threading a needle is harder than it looks.

"Lick the end of the thread, dear," Cinderella coached, "That helps sometimes."

"The eye of the needle is so _tiny_ ," Lonnie answered in deep concentration. Then, a moment later, her eyes lit up with success.

"There you got it!" Cinderella enthused, delighted that she'd succeeded before she got upset, "Threading the needle is the hardest part, I think."

"Now, tie a knot at the end," she went on, "That can be tricky too because the thread is so small. You don't want it to be too large but you need to make it big enough so that the thread won't slip back through the needle."

Whoops," she laughed lightly, "I guess that was a little too small. No harm done, I do that sometimes too, even now; just thread the needle again and tie another knot next to the first one. The two together should suffice."

"Good, now, just sew the button like I showed you. Here's another one. Practice makes perfect."

Lonnie, with difficulty, was able to sew several buttons onto the scrap of fabric before Prince Charming came into the room.

"Hey, I found you!" he said, his eyes lighting up, "I thought we were eating lunch today? I've been waiting down in the kitchen for a while."

" _Oh_ , I'm so sorry!" Cinderella gasped, glancing at the clock on the wall, " _Gosh! It is late_! Forgive me, honey. Lonnie and I were making such good progress that I forgot all about lunch."

"Oh, course," Prince Charming laughed, his eyes dancing, "I'm glad things are going well."

"Say, honey," Cinderella added, "I've got lunch frozen in the fridge; would you go down and warm it up in the microwave? Lonnie and I will be down in a minute."

"O-kay," he answered, surprised; his wife usually served meals fresh from the oven when the kitchen staff was on vacation. He stood frozen in confusion for a moment, then shrugged and headed downstairs. Knowing her as he did, she had a very good reason for deviating from the norm.

"Let's sew a few more buttons before we go down," Cinderella said to Lonnie, "I want you to help me replace some old loose ones on Chad's old shirts this week and you've almost got the technique down well enough to please him." She grimaced, "When he was about eight or nine—maybe ten—he tore all the buttons off one of his shirts because our seamstress hadn't sewed them to his liking."

Lonnie felt a stab of fear rise into her chest and she concentrated all the more until Cinderella said that they'd done enough.

"Prince Charming must be pacing the floor by now," she chuckled, "I didn't mean to keep him waiting for so long again." Her eyes twinkled, "I planned a surprise for you too."

"I'll have to tell Mal that I pricked my finger," Lonnie said, even as her curiosity perked about what Cinderella's surprise might be, "She'll get a kick out of that."

"Oh, wow!" she gasped, when they arrived downstairs and she saw what they were having, "Chinese food with chopsticks! I didn't know that you guys knew how to use chopsticks!"

"We don't," Prince Charming replied, a little stiffly.

"Now, dear," Cinderella admonished, "I wanted Lonnie to teach us something this week. I don't think that Wife Camp should be all about me teaching her how to do housework. I want to learn something from her."

"Oh, that _is_ a great idea!," he replied, nodding; his wife's kindness and discernment was part of why he'd fallen in love with her.

He pulled out their chairs, "Let's do it then!"

"Okay," Lonnie said, nervously eyeing the two royals seated across from her; however unintentionally, they made her feel awkward and foolish. It didn't even matter that she knew more than them on this subject.

"It's alright, dear," Cinderella reassured, after the protracted pause, snapping Lonnie's overwhelmed trance. After briefly giving instructions and demonstrating the technique, the teenager and her royal hosts settled into eating their lunch.

Prince Charming had the typical troubles of someone learning to use chopsticks for the first time, but Lonnie was astounded that Cinderella needed only a few clumsy tries to perfect the technique. Towards the end of the meal, she couldn't help but blurted out, "Even I didn't learn to use them that fast!"

Cinderella blushed a pretty pink, "Yes, well, remember that I asked you to never compare yourself to me."

"Yes, I remember," Lonnie answered, frowning a little, "I'm just flabbergasted!"

"My wife does have a knack for just about everything!" Prince Charming boasted proudly, then grimaced when Cinderella kicked him under the table.

"I won't hear that kind of talk in front of our guest," she admonished with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, of course, dear," he replied, properly subdued, "I'm just so proud of you!"

"Still…"

"So, what will you two be doing for the rest of the afternoon?" he asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Well, we were going to replace the buttons on some of Chad's old shirts and then do some other chores, but since we're here in the kitchen, I was just thinking that I should go ahead and teach Lonnie how to bake Chad's favorite cake."

"Very good. He'll appreciate that."

"I think so too."

"Well, I'll leave you to it," he said, getting up, "I need to finish some paperwork and then I'm meeting with Fairy Godmother this evening."

"Say hi for me."

"Will do."

After he left, Cinderella and Lonnie cleaned up the kitchen, which went much more smoothly under Cinderella's supervision, then got out a recipe book.

"Chad's favorite cake is called a pound cake," Cinderella explained, as she looked up the page, "Let's see, you read off the ingredients and I'll get them out."

"Okay," Lonnie nodded, "Three cups of sugar, three sticks of butter—"

"We'll have to let the butter soften," Cinderella noted, interrupting.

"Five eggs," Lonnie continued.

"They need to be room temperature," Cinderella answered.

"Three cups of flour," Lonnie resumed, "Lemon extract, butter flavoring, and... _sprite?_ "

"The Sprite gives it a tiny kick, "Cinderella explained, "You can use either 7-up or Sierra Mist too,"

"Although," she added, "Not today because we only have Sprite. I forgot to have our housekeeper get groceries before she left on vacation."

"Oops," Lonnie giggled, "What does Chad like best?"

"Oh, he likes Sierra Mist-that supposedly makes the kick a little stronger than the others," Cinderella answered, proud that Lonnie had asked, "Good thing that he's not here this week. He'd be upset if he knew we didn't use his favorite ingredient."

Lonnie's eyes widened; she known that her fiancé was picky and obnoxious, but what she'd learned today made her increasingly scared to be his wife.

"Now you read off the directions and we'll do make the cake together," Cinderella instructed, drawing the teenager out of the thoughts that plagued her.

"Put the butter in a mixing bowl and beat it until it's fluffy, then stir in the sugar." Lonnie both read the directions and did as they told her, "Grandma used to tell me stories about mixing butter by hand—I'm very glad that we have electric mixers in Auradon."

"Me too," Cinderella replied, "I didn't have a mixer myself until I married Prince Charming—oh, watch the edge, dear. You're making the butter fly out of the bowl." She nodded, "That's better. Remember to scrape it off the sides so the whisks have a chance to mix it."

Okay," she continued, instructing from memory, "Now, mix in the sugar."

Gasping suddenly, she interrupted herself, _Oh, no, not that fast_! That won't do!" She stopped abruptly, catching herself, "I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean—I meant that you should stir in the sugar one cup at a time."

"Have I messed it up?" Lonnie's voice quivered; she really wanted to learn how to make Chad's favorite cake correctly.

"Truthfully, Chad _would_ be upset, yes," Cinderella admitted with a sigh, "But it all gets mixed in either way. It's just easier to do it a little bit at a time." She shrugged, smiling coyly, "Besides, Chad isn't here this week, so he'll never know, will he? And you'll learn before he gets back."

"Thanks," Lonnie said, seriously doubting that.

"Come now, dear," Cinderella admonished gently, reading her mind, "You can do anything that you put your mind too."

"Next," she went on, hurriedly getting back to the recipe before Lonnie could protest, "Add the eggs, one at a time and mixed well. Then add a teaspoon of butter flavoring and two teaspoons of lemon extract and mix them in. After that comes the flour, one cup at a time, and mix it in well before you add more. Then pour in a cup of sprite."

"After it's all stirred in, you preheat the oven to three hundred and twenty-five degrees, then you grease a bundt pan—I use cooking spray—and pour the batter in. It's supposed to bake for an hour."

Cinderella smiled triumphantly once the oven door was closed, "There dear, you did it!" She grinned, "Want to go celebrate by sewing buttons on Chad's shirts? I know that it's not a typical celebration for you but, truly, a wife's jobs are never done—and when you become a mother—"

She started laughing so hard that she couldn't even finish her sentence.

They briefly returned to Chad's room where Cinderella grabbed a handful of cotton polo shirts, "Cotton is the easiest fabric to work with," she said, as they walked back to the sewing room.

After working in silence for a while, each concentrating on their task, Lonnie got brave enough to ask questions that had been bothering her most of the day, "Do you think that I'm good enough for Chad?"

"Why, dear," Cinderella was startled, "Why would ever ask that?"

"Well," Lonnie explained, "You've told me about how Chad gets upset and even angry if things aren't done to his liking around the house and I've seen him get the same why at school and I'm just unnerved, I guess."

"I know that I'm engaged to him," she continued, "and I _do_ love him, but how can I be his wife until death do us part if I can't do the things that he needs me to do? And how can I keep on loving him if I can't please him? And how can he keep on loving me?"

"You know, dear," Cinderella answered carefully, her mind recalling things that she hadn't thought about in many years, "I struggled with those same questions after my father died."

"Until his death, my stepfamily treated me basically like the sister that I was, but when father died, any pretense of their love for me died with him. I had to give up my own bedroom for the attic, take on all the chores after the servants were dismissed and become a servant in my own house, all that while being criticized and humiliated at every turn."

"You must have hated it," Lonnie said quietly; she knew Cinderella's story, but she'd never heard _her_ tell it.

"I did," Cinderella was truthful, "But, I kept trying to love them anyway because that's I thought that's I should do-what I thought my parents would want."

"How did you manage?"

"Well, I just tried to remember that we, as the human race, have but one calling, and that is to love one another. Of course, that doesn't mean that our calling is easy, but it remains our calling nevertheless."

"It _was_ helpful to me to remember," she continued, "that it is not within a human's capacity to change another's heart, so I didn't feel that burden, even when things were really horrible. I also took heart in knowing that I didn't have to like or approve of them in order to love them."

"To like someone or approve of their actions and love them are two mutually exclusive things." she finished, "Please remember that." After a pause, she added, "I think—I hope—this helps you."

"I'm sure that it will," Lonnie answered quietly, still afraid.

"Good," Cinderella said, "And, please remember that I'm always here for you, whenever you have questions or just want to talk." She paused for a moment, then changed the subject, "But, for now, let's go check on your pound cake."

They hurried downstairs and Lonnie opened the oven with breathless anticipation. Then her heart dropped when Cinderella pursed her lips.

"Well, shoot," the queen said, "It's a bit flat; we stirred it a bit too long. I'm sorry, dear. This is my fault. I should have paid better attention."

Lonnie scowled at the cake in the bundt pan, unable to think of anything decent to say.

Then Cinderella patted her back and retrieved a knife from the drawer, "You know, however flat or not a cake comes out, it still tastes the same. Have you ever had pound cake before?"

"No…"

"Then...let's eat!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : Alright, sorry about the long delay. This chapter turned out to be longer and, I think, harder to write than I originally thought that it would be. You can expect the following chapters to possibly take as long, although I actually have a better idea of how things will go in the next chapter.

Each incident that I used in this story comes from either something that I've done or from an old family story.

Stay tuned to see what it was that Cinderella delivered for Chad to use at Man Camp!


	3. Man Camp Day 1

In accordance with his long held philosophy that a person's clothes made them who they were, Chad adjusted his tie and smoothed his tuxedo as the limousine turned into Shang and Mulan's driveway. Smiling self-assuredly, he reminded himself that Lonnie was lucky to have him. Right now, she lived in a mansion, but soon she would live in a castle.

"You got this," he murmured softly. Whatever made him agree to Man Camp in the first place? He didn't need to learn how to be a man; he already was one! Had Mal secretly spelled him to go along with whatever her boyfriend wanted?

"Hey, Chad!" Shang greeted him enthusiastically as he stepped out of the limo and thrust a brown paper sack into his hands.

"I'm afraid the clothes that you're wearing aren't suited for what we'll be doing this week," he explained, "so I took the liberty to ask your mom to send something else over. She came by yesterday with these." He patted Chad's back, "You go inside and change while I explain a few more things to Mulan, then we'll be on our way."

"Change my clothes?" Chad echoed, "But, I thought-"

"Yeah," Shang grinned, waving him off, "Get going."

Chad stood rooted to the spot as Shang jogged around the side of the house, then shook his head to clear his jumbled thoughts and hurried inside; his heart pounding so loud that he was sure everyone on the block could hear it.

His mother had brought over clothes for him? Where did she get them? He hadn't noticed anything missing from his closet. And why hadn't she told him?

"No matter," he muttered, shaking his head again, "Mom knows what I like to wear."

But when he opened the sack, his jaw dropped. There were no fashionable clothes inside, just the most old-fashioned outfit that Chad had ever seen! And they looked like they hadn't seen the light of day for fifty years!

His hand immediately went into his pocket to call his mother for an explanation, then remembered that he'd lost his phone again.

Well, I hope that you're happy, mother!" he fumed, fighting to hold himself together as he changed, "I really hope that you're happy!" Checking himself in the mirror before returning outside, his face flamed to a scarlet color. Chad Charming was definitely not in the reflection!

"Chad! I'm so glad that I got to see you before you guys head out for the week!" Mulan called, as he emerged. Running over to him, she threw her arms around him and laughed with joy "I hope you have a wonderful time, and you tell me if Shang is too rough on you!"

"Who me?" Shang teased, laughing as he came up behind them, " _Never_! Chad and I are going to have a great time!" Putting a hand on Chad's shoulder, he directed him forward "Come on, let's get out of here before Mushu and Crikee find out. Those two have been begging me to take them ever since Ben arranged all this!"

"We're not staying here?" Chad asked, feeling lost. First it was his clothes and now this. What if his friends saw him on the street dressed like this?

"We're going backpacking," Shang explained, as they headed down the sidewalk, "I decided that for Man Camp we're going to walk around Auradon and help anyone we come across that needs help, whatever their need." Explaining the origin of his idea, he said, "When I was growing up, my dad had me do something similar in China when I was your age; I learned a great deal, so I thought that it'd be a perfect prenuptial exercise."

"What did you learn?" Chad asked hesitantly.

"Oh, all kinds of things," Shang readily explained, "I thatched a couple roofs, dug a few wells, worked a couple of days in a mine for a guy who was sick. Stuff like that."

" _Whoa_ , I don't know about any of that!" Chad practically gasped, pulling up short, his eyes wide.

"Well, I kind of doubt that we'll be doing _that_ kind of thing anyway," Shang winked, "but I bet it'll be interesting work nevertheless."

"Yeah, I bet," Chad muttered, then more loudly, he asked, "Hey, Shang?"

"Yes?"

"Did my mom happen to mention where she got the clothes that I'm wearing? I've never seen them before."

"Yes, she did!" he answered, "They were her father's."

Pulling up short again, Chad managed to stifle his gasp this time. His grandfather's old clothes? He didn't even know that his mom had kept anything from her childhood!

The news so stunned him that Chad barely noticed when they left the main road and began walking up the sandy beach. As every Auradon kid always did when they drew parallel to the Isle of the Lost, he took a fearful glance across the Strait of Ursula and was unexpectedly struck with curiosity about Lady Tremaine, her daughters, and her grandchildren.

Why had his grandfather-the man whose clothes he wore-married that witch of a woman after his sweet grandmother had died?

"Hey, Chad?" Shang suddenly broke into his thoughts, "What'cha doing?"

"Just thinking, " Chad muttered, dropping his gaze to the sand, his face growing red.

"Well, I don't have a problem with _that_." Shang shrugged, "I never believed what Gaston and Lefou said about it being a dangerous pastime."

"Hey, Shang," Chad echoed, unexpectedly curious, "have you ever thought about Shan-yu since the villains were banished-I mean, like what he and his kid are like now?"

"No," Shang answered curtly, and quickly changed the subject, pointing ahead, "That's Rapunzel and Eugene's palace. We'll stop and see if they need any help."

"O-kay," Chad said slowly, suddenly nervous. What if Ruby saw him in these clothes? She was very talkative so he knew that all his friends would find out. He began to think about the most charming way to handle the situation and was still doing so when they arrived. Thankfully, all looked quiet and peaceful.

" _Help, help! Can someone help me?"_

Ruby ran towards them, her eyes wide with fright, lugging a huge bundle of her long golden hair to avoid tripping on it, Flinging open the gate, Shang caught her in his arms just as she suddenly dropped her heavy load and tripped. For his part, Chad closed the gate and trudged over to them, disheartened that something was wrong; he sincerely hoped that Ruby wouldn't say anything about his outfit!

" _What is it_?" Shang demanded, taking a firm grip of her shoulders.

"Fl-Flavis is sick; I've never seen him like this!"

"What are his symptoms?" Shang asked gently; compassion instantly dissolving his sternness.

"He was really listless when I fed him breakfast this morning, which isn't like him. And when I checked on him a few minutes ago, he hadn't really eaten much and he was playing in his water bucket, but not drinking anything. Then, while I was watching, he started pawing the ground and he laid down and started rolling. And he is all sweaty, but I haven't turned him out yet."

" _Colic_ ," Shang muttered, frowning deeply.

"Her voice finally broke, "C-can you help him?"

"Lead the way," he replied, hoping that it was a mild case, "Chad and I will do everything we can."

" _What'll we do_?" Ruby cried, her face in her hands once they reached Maximus' son's stall, " _What'll we do_?"

"Are your mom or dad home?" Shang asked, gripping her shoulders again.

"Yes, both."

"Tell your dad to come help us. Flavis is a big boy; we may need an extra set of hands."

"But, what about me?" Ruby asked, her lower lip trembling, "I want to help."

"Getting your dad _is_ helping, Ruby."

"And also," he continued, "You have to calm down; Flavis needs to stay calm right now and your being upset could get _him_ upset."

She nodded, her eyes welling up, "Okay, I'll try."

Good girl!"

"Why don't you get your mom to make you a batch of chocolate chip cookies?" Chad suggested, "Lonnie says that helps her feel better."

"That's right!" Shang agreed, grinning, "Good for you, Chad!" Turning back to Ruby, he practically shoved her out of the stall, "Now, go! We need to get to work."

"We've got to get him on his feet," he continued, after as Ruby ran off, "Grab a good strong rope, hook it to his halter, and pull him from the front; I'll shove from the back."

"He looks like he's in a lot of pain." Chad said, stalling, hoping that Eugene would show up soon to help so that he wouldn't have to get dirty.

"I bet he is," Shang snapped, "But rolling on the ground won't help him. He's gotta get up, Chad. Let's go."

Shocked by the sharp admonishment, Chad instinctively did as he'd been told, but when he returned, so did his reluctance.

"Come on, Chad!" Shang snapped again, "Pull harder!"

"I can't pull any harder!" Chad protested.

"Well, I'm not going to tell Ruby that her horse died because we couldn't get him up," Shang shot back; Chad's mouth snapped shut, once again shocked into silence. He pulled with renewed vigor for a few minutes but when success wasn't forthcoming, his arms slackened again.

"Look, Chad," Shang explained, switching tactics, "I know Flavis doesn't feel good. Horse colic is on par with human indigestion, gassiness, or having an intestinal blockage. I'd feel inclined to lay down if I felt like that too. But, that's literally the worst thing for him right now! Think of him as a little kid who doesn't feel good. They want to lay down and take it easy, don't they? But, you and I are like his parents because we know better than he does what's best for him and it's our responsibility to make sure that he does it, whether he likes it or not."

Suddenly Eugene appeared, huffing and puffing, "Ruby told me that Flavis might die if I didn't come right away! Is he alright? Man, I haven't run this fast since I saved Rapunzel from Mother Gothel!"

"My guess," Shang hastily explained, "is that he has horse colic, which, yes, _can_ be very serious and even fatal, but it isn't necessarily so. I want to get him standing up so I can examine him and see how bad it is. Pull on the rope with Chad; I'm pushing from behind."

"Okay," Eugene picked up the slack rope and the fight resumed. Finally, at long last, Flavis heaved up onto his feet.

"Take him outside and walk him around, Chad," Shang instructed, as he looked around the stall for any sign of the colic's source, When he spied the feed bucket with a mountain of sand in it, "He said, "I need to talk with Ruby."

"I'll tell her."

"Dad said that you had questions for me?" Ruby asked anxiously, appearing a few minutes later, "Where's Flavis?"

"Chad is walking him in the paddock; did he eat well last night?"

"Yes, just like normal."

""How'd all that sand get in his feed bucket?"

"I don't know," her voice trembled, "He was pawing the ground, so maybe…" She shook her head, "Why do you ask?"

"Horse stomach's can handle some sand-I mean, they eat grass so it's probably easy to eat a little sand-but _that_ , my dear, is not a little sand. I think that what's happened is that he ingested a lot of sand, however it got in there, and now he has a bad bellyache."

He finished, "Chad walking him in the paddock is going to be _very_ helpful to him, but I have some medicine that will also help him. Why don't you help Chad while I get my pack."

" _Okay_!" Ruby cried, as she dashed outside, tripping over her hair with every step.

"How is he?"

"I-I don't know," Chad was baffled. His face reddened at the sight of her, he looked horrible in these old-fashioned filthy clothes, "But, he definitely isn't in favor of Shang's walking treatment. I feel bad for him." Looking confused, he added, "I thought that you were making chocolate chip cookies."

"They're in the oven," she replied, "Dad said that Shang needed me to answer some questions. He said Flavis has a bad bellyache."

"That's what he told me too."

"Poor Flavis," Ruby sighed, "I bet that he wishes he could throw up and get it over with."

"He probably does," Shang agreed, as he and Eugene walked up behind them, "but horses can't. If they eat something that doesn't agree with them, there's only one way to get it out."

" _Gross_ ," Chad said, a disgusted expression on his face..

"Now," Shang continued, pulling a long plastic bag over his arm, "Chad, will you hold him still while I give him a small sedative to make him comfortable for quick exam."

"You're going to put him to sleep?" Ruby asked, anxious and surprised..

"Not totally," Shang answered, "Just make him a little groggy." He winked, adding, "so he doesn't kick me."

Chad turned green as he put two and two together, but Shang slapped his shoulder good-naturedly, "Buck up Chad, by week's end, _you_ might get to do something similar."

"Oh _wow_ ," Ruby stated gleefully, "Wait till I tell _everyone_ at Auradon Prep!"

In a matter of seconds, Chad's ran the gambit of emotions, but the sedative was quick to work Flavis' head came crashing down on his shoulder; He caught it just in time and afterward became so engrossed in supporting the groggy horse's head that he didn't think to worry about what Ruby might say or do.

"That'll do it," Shang said a few minutes later as he pulled his arm out of the filthy bag, "As I suspected, his system is pretty backed up so I gave him something to help him with pain management and a laxative to help that sand pass."

"Chad, when he shakes off that sedative in a few minutes, you and Ruby keep walking him around until he goes to the bathroom. Oh, and no food or water until he passes the sand. I'm going to wash up."

"O-kay," Chad said, feeling sick; he couldn't quite keep his eyes off that bag. How could he spend an entire week with a man who'd put his hand up a horse's butt?

"Poor Flavis," Ruby sighed, once they were alone, "I hope he feels better soon."

"Me too," Chad said, wondering if she was going to bring up his new outfit.

But she was too busy fawning over her horse to notice him or his clothes and when Flavis finally went to the bathroom, she actually beamed.

"I'm going to go tell Shang!" she cried excitedly, flinging her arms around Chad and kissing him before running off. He was left to scrub his cheek with a scowl on his face.

"Would you guys stay for cookies?" Rapunzel called from the palace.

"No, thank you though," Shang answered, "We ought to be on the road; there's still plenty of daylight left."

"Well, can I at least fill a bag for you to take?"

" _That_ ," Shang replied with a huge grin, "you can do!"

Once they were back on the beach, Chad's thoughts returned to how awful he looked; not only were his clothes completely out of style, but also working with Flavis had left him looking like a mess. He became so lost in his thoughts that Shang had to shake him when loud angry voices in the distance reached their ears.

"That's Lilo and Luana," Shang said, worry lines darkening his face.

They took off running down the beach, each making their own wild guesses about what was happening, and arrived at the Pelekai's little bungalow just in time to see Luana throw deck chair at Stitch; in turn, the little alien animal viciously devoured it.

Lilo was beside herself with horror as Luana grabbed another chair and Stitch made ready to tear that to bits too.

" _Luana_!" Chad, who'd always had a secret affection for Stitch, shouted without thinking, " _Don't_! _Stop_! _What are you doing_?"

" _What does it look like I'm doing, Chad_ , she shrieked, "I'm so sick of this thing! I wish that he'd just go back to where he came from. He's ruining my life!"

"But, he's so cool," Chad protested, dumbfounded, "When I was little, I tried to buy him from your mom." Turning red, he added, "I'm pretty sure that I tried to bribe her too."

"Oh, you definitely tried to bribe me!" Lilo said, laughing despite her overarching fear.

"You should have dumped him, mom," Luana growled. "He's _so_ stupid!"

"He's sick, Luana!" Lilo snapped tearfully, attempting to cradle her childhood pet as his eyes began burning a bright neon green color. He swatted at her and growled.

Putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, Shang pulled her back, "Can we help you girls figure this out?"

"I don't know how…" Lilo whispered, shaking her head, dumbfounded by what was happening.

"Try us."

"I don't know," her eyes darting nervously towards her daughter then back to Stitch, "Stitch hasn't been like this since I was a little girl."

A faraway look came into her eyes, "Pleakley and Jumba tried to charge him, but they were too late and he died." Then she smiled slightly, "Only ohana saved him."

"You should've let him die!" Luana snapped.

" _Luana_ ," Shang snapped firmly, " _That's enough_."

The teenager opened her mouth to reply, then shut it like a blowfish; she could see that he wasn't kidding.

"Why don't you tell us again, Lilo," he continued, hoping to calm the situation down so that dialogue could begin, "What does ohana mean?"

Luana frowned, glaring at Chad, hoping that he'd put an end to this dumb discussion. She _did not_ need to hear _this_ again! Chad shook his head and frowned; he wasn't getting involved in this one! Besides, he too was upset with her for assaulting poor Stitch.

"Ohana means family," Lilo began, "and family means that nobody gets left behind."

"Well said," Shang nodded his approval, "Say, Lilo, would you mind getting Chad and I glasses of lemonade? We've been on the move since this morning." She gave a brief questioning look, then understood and hurried inside.

"Now, tell me, Luana," Shang continued, once he was alone with the teenagers, "Why are you angry with Stitch? We've all got family members and we don't always get along, but there are ways to go about disagreeing...and even fighting, so that the problem can actually get resolved instead of just getting pushed aside until someone like Chad or I wanders in and intervenes."

"Well, for starters," Luana began, working harder to stay calm because Shang and Chad weren't her mother, "This morning, he chewed up my favorite purse, then he urinated on my bedpost." She paused to glare at Chad when she caught him smirking, "And last week he tore up my homework— _do not laugh, Chad Charming_ —and I was _really_ lucky that Fairy Godmother gave me a couple days of grace to redo it."

"Let's see," she continued, "Earlier this month, he played tug of war with my drapes and pulled them down and knocked over my dresser. I spent _all_ afternoon picking up my clothes! He also pulled all the stuffing out of my favorite stuffed animal."

"I'm sorry," Shang said quietly.

"It was the most beautiful stuffed tiger with golden eyes and I named it Rajah because Queen Jasmine gave it to me for my first birthday," she explained tearfully.

"Okay, okay," Shang reached out to hug her, "I get it, Luana. I get it. Man, that's tough. I remember when Jasmine gave you that tiger; he was beautiful!" He patted her back consolingly, "Did you get your assignment done?"

"Yeah," she offered a small smile, "I got an A too."

"Good for you!" he beamed, then his expression softened, "Now, do you think that Stitch feels bad about wrecking your stuff?"

" _No_!" she snapped harshly, "He wouldn't keep doing stuff if he felt sorry about it."

Glancing at Stitch worriedly, Shang could see that he was getting agitated, "Are you sure that he knows what he's doing?"

"Of course, he does!"

"Are you sure?" Shang asked again.

She glared back, folding her arms across her chest.

"See, the way I see it," Shang quietly explained, "is that Stitch is out of his mind right now, sort of like he's clinically insane or, maybe, rabid."

Luana's eyes lit up, "Shang, isn't it true that rabid animals should be put down?"

"O-kay," he replied, hastily attempting to walk back his statement, "maybe that wasn't the best example."

"I knew it, I knew it," Luana chanted, her eyes lighting up, "Stitch is sick and he needs to be put out of his misery!"

" _Shh, Luana_ ," Shang hissed, afraid that Lilo would hear, " _Shh_. Come on, you don't really believe that; you know that he just needs recharging."

"So, why doesn't mom just call Jumba and Pleakley like before?" Luana asked, scowling, "Or give him a hug so ohana will work again?"

"Well, maybe, it'll take something else this time," Shang suggested, suddenly getting an idea, "Maybe he needs _you_ to love him this time."

" _What_? _Are you kidding_?" she was taken aback, " _No way_!"

"Come on, Luana," Chad encouraged quietly, "Do it."

I think Shang is onto something," Lilo said, walking up behind them with two glasses of lemonade on a tray.

Luana stiffened at the sound the sound of her mother's voice; she wasn't in the mood to accommodate her.

"Come on, honey," Lilo pleaded, "Remember how you and Stitch used to have so much fun together? You used to love running all over Auradon with him pretending to be Elvis and he'd always wait for you after school.

"Like Lassie," Luana muttered, looking down at Stitch; her glum expression turned to shock when the little beast went into convulsions.

The lemonade glasses crashed to the sandy beach when Lilo lunged for him, " _No! Please, no_!"

 _Mom, wait_ ," Luana gasped, "Let me." Hardly believing what she was doing, she took Stitch in her arms, "I'm sorry, big guy, I'm sorry; you made me mad that's all, but you're still my family and I love you."

Stitch stared back, unseeing for several minutes and Shang and Chad seemed to fade away as mother and daughter held him and wept together.

"Ohana," Luana whispered softly, "ohana, Stitch."

"Ohana," Lilo repeated, "Remember ohana, Stitch? It's important."

Slowly, the little monster began to move his head from side to side, staring at them without any sign of recognition. Then slowly, almost imperceptibly, his eyes began to focus and lose their weird neon green color.

"I think it's working," Chad breathed excitedly, his body tensing with growing elation.

"I know it is," Shang answered, a huge smile dawning on his face.

"Oh, I'm so happy right now!" Lilo cried as Stitch reached out to Luana; she gathered them both into a big bear hug and kissed them.

"Thank you, honey." she added, tearing up.

"Yeah, sure, you're welcome," Luana answered, suddenly embarrassed that Chad was watching.

"Well, Chad," Shang said, throwing an arm around him, "I believe our work here is done."

"Oh, don't go yet!" Lilo cried, jumping to her feet, "Please stay and have an early dinner with us." She grinned, pointing a thumb at her daughter, "Luana is cooking tonight."

"All the more reason for them to run in terror, mom," Luana said, turning bright red, "I forgot to tell you that Stitch had an episode this morning and he ate an entire carton of eggs; I had to wing it all afternoon."

"Oh, dear," Lilo's eyes were as big as saucers, "Perhaps we should-"

"Uninvite Aunt Nani and Uncle David," Luana finished her sentence, "Yeah."

Shang laughed heartily, "Alas, we can't stay anyway; I'm afraid the Man Camp rule is that main meals must be taken the land; this week we hunt and gather only.

"That actually sounds better than what we'll have here," Luana muttered.

Lilo laughed weakly, then saluted as Shang and Chad headed up the beach; Chad was relieved that Luana hadn't said anything about him hunting and gathering.

He was already getting a queasy feeling in his stomach.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, then Shang said, "I'm glad we could help them out; Lilo has always been a good friend to my family."

"Luana is my friend too," Chad answered, "and Stitch is _really_ cool!" Then hesitantly, he added, "I didn't know that we were living off the land this week…"

"Have you ever hunted before?"

"No."

"Fished?"

"No."

"Gardened?

"No."

"Want to learn?"

Though it was the last thing that he wanted to do, Chad, forced a smile, hoping that his face didn't reveal his true feelings, and said, "You bet!"

Shang was dubious, "Really?"

"Hey, we've got to eat, don't we?" Chad answered, visibly swallowing hard, "and I'm half-starved after walking in the sun all day!"

Shang laughed and slapped Chad on the back, "Then let's go to Sherwood Forest and see what we can find,"

" _Right now_?" Chad was surprised, sounding as squeaky as a boy in puberty.

"Sure," Shang answered, "It can take a while, especially since I'll have to show you some things first. We'll fish tonight because that's pretty easy to demonstrate.

"Okay," Chad agreed, his heart flopping in his chest. Looking down the irreparably stained clothes of his grandfather, he was sure that he didn't belong here.

When they got to the famed forest, they took a slightly overgrown path and Shang said, "Come on, no one knows about this, but I keep a fishing pole inside a hollowed out tree right here." Winking, he added, "Don't tell anyone or they'll all want to use it."

" _Whoa_ ," Chad exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with mischief, "Isn't it a crime to not _share_ in Auradon? "

"Oh, I'd share if push came to shove," Shang grinned, as he pulled aside the loose back and removed the pole, "but I think of this as more like a competition so I'm not really obligated to share, am I?"

"I guess not, if you put it like that!"

"Now, let me give you a quick lesson about bait," Shang said, as he pulled out a can of worms; Chad almost gagged.

"The trout in the stream love worms!" Shang advised, ignoring Chad's reaction, "Do you know how to bait a hook?"

" _No_! _Are you kidding_?" Looking horrified, Chad's face reddened with embarrassment and he forced himself to swallow the bile rising in his throat.

"But, I'd love to learn!" he added, his voice squeaking again.

"I was hoping that you'd say that," Shang grinned as he handed the teenager the hook and dug a worm out of the can, "Careful, they're slippery."

Though he was completely revolted by what he was doing, Chad's fingers were shockingly nimble and, surprising even himself, he hooked the worm on the first try.

"Just like Harry—probably!" Chad grinned, mentioning Captain Hook's son without even thinking.

"Or CJ," Shang answered, with a quick grin, not wanting Chad to forget that girls can do anything that boys can, "Great job, Chad!"

"You know," Shang continued, once they were standing up to their knees in the stream, "You might not believe me, but I was a lot like you when I was your age."

"Oh, yeah?" Chad asked, eying him strangely; there was no way that Captain Li Shang was ever like him!

"Yes, I was," Shang insisted, "I was the only son in a well-respected family." His eyes took on a faraway look as he remembered his childhood and youth, "and I was expected to follow in my father's footsteps. My fondest dream was to become a war hero like him and then retire to a large plantation and raise a son to follow in my own footsteps."

He chuckled, "But life had a way of turning all my dreams on their head." Shaking his head sorrowfully, he went on, "When I was your age, society taught me that boys were best. As a son, I knew that I'd be honored, but there were other families that I knew who mourned when they had daughters." His voice caught briefly, "Or, even worse, since every family was only allowed one child, I heard that sometimes baby girls were deliberately killed so that their parents could try again for a son."

Chad's eyes widened in horror, "B-but, that's murder! I would _never_ —"

"Yes, it is." Shang agreed, "and I don't mean to say that you would. I'm just telling you what my boyhood was like." He went on, "See, growing up with that kind of philosophy all around you can give a boy the wrong impression of what it is to be a man."

"As a kid, I couldn't fathom being bested by a girl in school or sport and would never have stooped so low as to help with household chores-the women's work. Then I met Mulan and we had a beautiful baby girl. And now our baby is going to be your beautiful bride and I just want you to come away from this week knowing how special she is."

"There's absolutely nothing that I wouldn't do for my girls. If Mulan needs my help with "woman's work" you better know that I'll be there. And if Lonnie needs me, I know I'd kill-or die-for her without hesitation."

His voice caught again, "I didn't feel like that when I was your age, so I hope that you're better than me."

Chad nodded seriously, his mind working to come up with the perfect response. Then, suddenly, his pole jerked viciously and almost flew out of his hands.

" _Whoa, oh shoot_!" he gasped.

" _Hang on, Chad_!" Shang whooped, " _Reel it in! I see it! It's a huge trout_!" He grabbed the pole and they both fought the fish all the way to the shore.

Afterward, Chad stood breathing hard from the exertion while Shang killed the sparking fish. He was thankful for the reprieve that creature had given him because he had no idea what to say.

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : First off, allow me to apologize for the ghastly delay! First, I got busy with life stuff and then I decided that I needed to get caught up one story at a time. Needless to say, this one wasn't the first one on the list.

Also, I'm sorry if the horse colic episode grossed you out. My family owns horses and I've seen it done before so I added it without thinking about people that haven't seen it.


	4. Wife Camp Day 2

"I just love grocery shopping," Cinderella said, as she and Lonnie headed to Auradon's outdoor market, "I love picking out fresh food for my family. Do you like grocery shopping, Lonnie?"

"Well," the teen confessed, embarrassed, "actually, I tend to hang out with my friends whenever I go grocery shopping. My parents and grandma are always griping at me to pay attention, but-"

"You sound like Chad," Cinderella chuckled, stopping to pick up a cart, "but good nutrition is a _must_ for a family so please pay attention today, okay."

"Okay."

"Candy apples!" Evie interrupted, waving at them, "Free samples of my new recipe! Would you like to try it? They're nutritious and delicious, but _not_ malicious."

"Well, I'm glad to hear that!" Cinderella laughed, taking a bite, "Mmm, yes, very good, Evie!"

"It is _really_ good, Evie!" Lonnie agreed, savoring hers, "What's this new recipe that you have?"

"Well, actually," Evie admitted, blushing, "It's my mother's old recipe, but Mal found a spell in her book that negates the sleeping death part. Do you really like them?"

Cinderella and Lonnie slowly lowered the fruit from their mouths, their eyes growing wide.

"Well, ah, yeah, I guess it's great," Cinderella laughed nervously, "Are you _sure_ that Mal's spell took care of the, ah, old, ah, problem?"

"Well, yeah," Evie shrugged, "I mean, you guys just took a bite and you're still awake, right?"

"True..." Cinderella admitted, beginning to relax.

"Evie!" Doug interrupted, "Have you sold any apples yet?" He paused, looking at her customers, "Oh, hey, Cinderella; hey Lonnie!"

Evie pointed, "Just two."

"Hey, that's a great start!" he nodded, looking relieved, "I was a little worried about your recipe's reputation."

"Just a _little_? Last night, you said-"

"Well, okay, let's not go into that!" he grinned sheepishly

"You'll let me know if I can help you, won't you?" he said, turning back to the shoppers, "I'm doing the morning shift before I have to get home to help my family do some home repairs."

"Okay," Cinderella agreed, "What's wrong with the seven dwarfs' house?"

"Oh, just about _everything_ ," he groaned, "It'd take me all day to explain."

"Oh," Cinderella nodded, then she got an idea, "Hey Doug, do you have time to run through this list with Lonnie? I know that you're the cook in your family and I bet that she'd like hanging out with you more than me."

"That's not true!" Lonnie protested, but Cinderella waved her off and headed for the entrance when Doug agreed.

"Hey, Lonnie!" Jane called, interrupting the two teens as they studied the list in the midst of the cold-foods section, "How's Wife Camp going?"

"It's great!" Lonnie lied cheerfully, not wanting to sound negative, "But I've only been there one day."

"My mom said we that could use our magic to keep the cold foods from getting to warm in the sun," Jane continued, gesturing towards her fellow fairy-children.

Florie, Fawn, and Mary stopped in the midst of their latest argument, a continuation of their mothers' age old row about color, and waved. Lonnie took a couple cautious steps backwards, reminded that nothing good happened when they were quarreling. As if to read her mind, there was suddenly a huge explosion of pink, blue, and green fairy dust and shoppers screamed, dropped their bags, and dashed for cover.

"Lonnie, over here!" the Blue Fairy's daughter, Bonnie, called covering her mouth to muffle her laughter, "You'll be safe over here!"

Lonnie ran, almost frantic to get out of the magical smoke before something crazy happened, but she didn't forget to pat her nose to make sure that it was still the right size.

"Oh, fibbing, were you?" Bonnie asked, grinning.

"Yeah," she answered, "I told Jane that Wife Camp is going great."

Bonnie nodded sympathetically, "Oh, I see."

"You look like you could use some happy thoughts and a little fly around Auradon, " a voice whispered in Lonnie's ear, sounding like tiny bells jingling.

" _Tina_!" Lonnie spun around to face Tinkerbell's daughter, "I haven't seen you in ages; what have you been up too?"

"I just like to slip away sometimes," she continued, with a sly smile, "and do a little spying on the VK's of the _Isle_!" Winking,she finished, "Don't tell Paul Pan, but Harry Hook is pretty _hot_!"

"Oh, you naughty girl," Lonnie was scandalized, waving her finger at her friend. Giggling, she added, "Oh, I get it, you're joking, right?"

" _Heck no_ ," Tina shook her head, "I wouldn't lie in front of Bonnie!"

"I saw CJ sunning on the beach yesterday." she went on, "Harry and Uma were there too-talking, but the barrier is too strong for me to hear what they said."

"That's practically _treacherous_!" Lonnie gasped.

"Nah," Tina shook her head, "I wish that I'd been able to hear them though; they might have been scheming to take over Auradon!" She sighed, "I wanted Paul to go with me, but he wouldn't."

"Paul Pan is so serious that he wouldn't know fun if it smacked him in the face," Lonnie rolled her eyes, "I can't believe that _Ally_ is going to the Jewelbilee with him next month!"

"I know, _right_?

"There you are, Lonnie," Doug called, trotting up, "I'm sorry I lost you in all that craziness!"

"No, problem," Turning to her fairy friends, she explained, "Cinderella has some big surprise planned for me tonight, but I was pretty overwhelmed after yesterday so she thought that shopping with someone my own age would be fun."

"I can understand that," Bonnie nodded, then her eyes lit up, "Hey, I've got an idea! After our shift is over, why don't we come over and visit? Maybe we could help with the chores."

"What a great idea!" Tina agreed, "I'll go talk to the others right now!"

"Well, alright; but let me check first," Lonnie said, cautiously, "I'll stop by before we leave with the verdict."

"Come on," Doug reminded her, "Let's see; pizza is first on the list. Easy peasy."

"Pizza is easy?" Lonnie asked cautiously, "I thought that there was a hundred ingredients in pizza."

Doug laughed, "You can put as few or as many ingredients on pizza as you like. I make it all the time at home. It's Uncle Grumpy favorite."

"Let's see," he continued, studying the list, "It says pizza, but not _what kind_ of pizza. Do you know?"

She shook her head, "It was going to be my choice and I said that I'd think about it."

"Well, I hope you have because it's decision time."

"Uh-How about a Hawaiian pizza?" she shrugged.

"Perfect! That doesn't have many ingredients. We'll need a crust, ham, cheese, and pineapple-Uh-oh…"

"What?"

"The cousins…"

"Oh, I'm sure it's alright now;" Lonnie assured him, "after the ruckus they caused, I bet they're laying low."

"Yeah, I guess we'd better give them the benefit of the doubt."

"We need that ham and cheese," she reminded him, "I just hope that Fawn made one of the hams green. That would be _hilarious_."

Doug shook his head, "Sorry, no such thing; a green ham is a _moldy_ ham."

"Ewww!"

"Okay," he continued, after they picked out an enormous ham, "I bet this will be plenty for you guys. Now, for the dough and the cheese."

"The dough?"

"For the crust."

"In that's in the cold foods section?"

"Yeah, dough spoils faster at room temperature-all bread does."

"Now, the cheese," he said, checking off the crust after they picked it up, "Did you know that mozzarella cheese is made from the milk of water buffalo?"

She raised her eyebrows, "Ah, no…"

"And now the pineapple." he said, turning towards the fruit section after picking up a bag of cheese, "Do you know how to tell if pineapple is ripe?"

"No…aren't they ripe when they're brought to the market?"

" _No_!" he smiled wryly, "Mostly fruit is sold before it's really ripe."

"Most fruits continue ripening after it's picked," he continued, "so if it gets to the store before it's really ripe, the store has a longer time to sell it before it goes bad and has to be thrown out." He gave her an example. "Think of bananas. Sometimes you buy them when they're green, but in a day or so they get yellow."

"So, anyways," he concluded, "with a pineapple, you can tell if they're really ripe by smelling the bottom. If it's ripe, it'll smell sweet."

After adding the pineapple to their cart, Doug glanced at the list, "It says cobb salad. Do you know what the ingredients are?"

" _I don't even know what that is!"_

"That's alright, Lonnie!" he rushed to assure her, "That's why I'm here. I know what to get; I just wanted to know if you knew. We need lettuce, bacon, eggs, chicken, avocados, tomatoes, and bleu cheese."

"What? Blue cheese? Is that something Mary creates to sell here?"

" _No_!" Dough cracked up, "Bleu cheese is a _type_ of cheese, not the color of the cheese!"

"What kind of animal does it come from?"

"Cows, sheep, or goats; it doesn't matter. What makes it different is _how_ they make it. It ripens in cultures of a mold called Penicillium." Grinning, he added, "It's a cool science experiment, if you ask me!"

"Isn't penicillium a medicine?"

"Well, the medicine _does_ come from the same mold."

"O-kay," she glanced at her watch, "This is a lot of ingredients, Doug, maybe we'd better split up so we don't keep Cinderella waiting."

"I think I should go over all the food with you," he countered, "I know that she would."

"Well, I don't think that it's _absolutely necessary_ to go over _every_ food right now!" she insisted, sounding slightly sarcastic and overwhelmed, "Besides, we need to get back before Jane and the others fairies stop by this afternoon."

" _And_ ," she finished, pointedly, " _you_ need to get home to help with fix the seven dwarves' house."

"Ugh, don't remind me!" he paused, still hesitating, "Are you sure that you can find everything?"

"I'll do it."

"Okay, but here's a few quick tips. Ripe avocados are slightly soft. Make sure the tomatoes are mostly firm. A few soft spots don't matter because you can cut them out, but tomatoes with lots of bad spots are spoiled. And make sure the eggs aren't cracked in the carton. Sometimes they are because eggs are fragile, but spoiled eggs can make you sick." He nodded at the cart, "You take this. I'll get another one and get the other stuff. Let's meet here in a half hour."

"Where would I be without you, Doug?" Lonnie asked once they rendezvoused.

"Oh, you'd probably be glad that you didn't have to listen to Auradon's resident nerd."

"You're not a nerd!"

"Yes, I am," he grinned, "but I'm dating the prettiest girl, so what do I care?"

"Well, okay, you _are_ a nerd," she admitted, "but Evie does complement you well."

"Do you have any questions about the stuff you got?"

"No, your advice did the trick."

"Hey, kids!" the queen called, walking towards them, "How'd it go?"

"It was great!" Lonnie assured her, "Thanks to Doug."

"Aw, shucks."

"You shouldn't be _bashful_?" she cracked up, hugging him, "because you were really helpful today!"

"As always," Cinderella added.

"Can Jane and the other fairy kids come over this afternoon?" Lonnie asked, "I, well, I admitted that I'm a little overwhelmed with Wife Camp so they want to come over and help this afternoon."

"An excellent idea!" Cinderella nodded, "The more the merrier, I say!"

"I'll tell them," Doug said, waving them on, "You guys go ahead."

"Thanks, Doug."

Once they were back at Charming castle, Lonnie kept glancing at her watch, impatiently excited to have her friends come over.

"They'll be along in an hour or so," Cinderella laughed, as they unpacked their bags, "From what I remember about the market's schedule. But, oh, dear, will you remind them to be careful with their magic? Prince Charming won't like a mess and I don't want our little friends getting accidentally hurt."

"Oh, of course!"

Suddenly the front doorbell rang.

" _Wow_ , could that be them? That's fast!"

"Yes, it is" Cinderella was surprised, "You'd better go see-it might _not_ be them."

"We got kicked out," Jane explained when Lonnie opened the door, her face scarlet with embarrassment, "by my own mother."

"Oh, I'm _sorry_!"

"It was our fault," Mary admitted sheepishly, pointing at herself and her cousins, "We got into another argument and, well-"

"The blueberries got turned green, the milk blue, and the lettuce red," Florie finished her sentence.

"And worst of all, Evie's apples disappeared."

"She was _very_ upset," Bonnie added, looking downcast, "not that I blame her."

"Jane and I tried to bring them back," she continued, "but nothing worked until Evie called Mal. _She_ was able to get them back with her spell book."

" _Whoa_! Score a point for VK magic."

"Mom was furious about the whole mess," Jane added, "I don't know who called her, but when she got there she kicked us all out for the rest of the day." Looking nervous, she added, "I think that she thought that we'd go home, but we knew that you were expecting us so we came here without telling her."

"Oooo," Lonnie teased, grinning mischievously.

"I feel really bad about misleading her, but you sounded so lonely this morning and we said that we'd come."

"I'm sure that it's alright." Lonnie shrugged, adding, " _Oh_! Cinderella asked me to remind you to be careful with your magic while you're here."

"Now, that is a reminder that we don't need!" Bonnie answered emphatically.

"That's for sure!" Jane nodded, "In fact, let's not use magic at all while we're here, agreed?"

" _Agreed_!"

"I'm glad to hear that, girls," Prince Charming said, surprising them as he came into the hall, "Lonnie, do you know where Cinderella is?"

"I was just helping her unpack the groceries when the doorbell rang,"

"Oh good! Fairy Godmother is stopping by in an hour or so to go over construction plans for a new wing of classrooms at your school that we're financing." Heading towards the kitchen, he added, "I need her opinion about something beforehand."

"Oh great," Jane muttered, " _Mom_ is coming here."

"Well, she didn't say that you couldn't come over." Lonnie reminded her, shrugging.

"Yeah, but I didn't ask."

"I've heard that it's easier to get forgiveness than permission."

Everyone laughed, before she added seriously, "I'm sure we could disappear pretty easily, if you really think that that you'll get in trouble. Cinderella will put us to work on something and we probably won't even see your mom."

"True," Jane nodded slowly, warming up to the idea.

"That's not exactly honest…" Bonnie said, "I mean, chances are, once you explain why we're here, your mom won't even mind."

"But, what if she does?" Florie asked, "Where would that leave Lonnie?"

"It's not _really_ dishonest," Mary said, "What Fairy Godmother doesn't know won't hurt her, right?"

"I'm sure that it'll be fine," Fawn said.

"And it sounds like fun!" Tina added, a mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"You guys are practically villainous," Bonnie laughed, rolling her eyes and throwing up her hands in defeat, "I just hope that _my_ mother doesn't find out!" She patted her nose and laughed again.

"Well, the formal dining room needs cleaning," Cinderella said, in answer to their inquiry about a large job, "There's a list on the table."

" _Perfect_!" Jane gushed.

"We want to help too! We want to help too!"

"Of course, you may!" Cinderella assured the young animals, "There is plenty of work for everyone-only ask your parents first." Turning back to the teenagers before she left them, she added, "Thanks for your help girls!"

"Don't worry about anything!" Fawn assured her, then after the queen was out of earshot, she added, "And no magic, remember?"

"Don't be such a worry wart." Mary said, hands on her hips.

"Or a spoil sport," Florie added, rolling her eyes.

"I've never been to a formal dinner before," Lonnie muttered nervously, "Is that her surprise?"

"Doesn't your dad host formal military balls?"

"Back in China, yeah, I guess," she shrugged, "but not since they moved to Auradon-we don't exactly have a military here, remember?"

"We're back! We're back!" the little animals returned with their parents, interrupting the conversation.

"We can do it; we can do it," Jaq said, in a sing-song voice.

"There's really nothing to it," his wife added, smiling.

"We'll make the dining room so pretty," the kids shirked with joy.

Entering the enormous dining on tiptoes, the entire group felt almost like intruders as they walked noiselessly over the carpet.

"Hmm," Jane said, handing the list to Lonnie, "This is your show; you do the honors."

Lonnie nodded, feeling like a fish out of water.

"Polish and dust off the table and chairs," she began, "hem in the drapes and tablecloth an inch, vacuum the carpet, mop the marble floor, polish the silverware and the chandelier, replace the burned out lights in the chandelier-oh my goodness, is she serious about all this stuff?"

"Don't worry about it," Fawn reassured her, "We got this."

"Let's sing our old work song again." Gus suggested.

"Is there anything else on the list, Lonnie?" Bonnie asked.

"Set the table, pick flowers and make arrangements, and clean the windows."

"Doesn't Cinderella have people to do all this stuff?" Mary asked.

"She gave the staff a week off because she and Prince Charming were so excited about the engagement."

" _Bummer,"_ Florie winced, then rubbed her hands together, "Well, let's get started. I'll whip up some beautiful arrangements for the table, since we all know that I'm the best with plants."

"She thinks she has a _green_ thumb," Fawn whispered in Lonnie's ear.

"I heard that."

"But, you can't use magic, Florie," Bonnie reminded her, "We promised, remember?"

"Oh, poo," Florie scowled, "I remember." She smiled coyly, "Oh well, I'll just slip outside and _pick_ some flowers from the garden."

"You'd _better_ remember," Mary said, suspecting that a ruse was on.

"Can we come?" the little mice asked, "We're good at digging."

"Oh, no, no, I'll be right back," Florie smiled coyly again, then scurried outside before anyone could stop her.

"So, what's next?" Tina asked, ignoring the others' looks of concern.

"Mary, why don't you polish the silverware, tables, and chairs, and set the table-remember to use the fine china-and I'll hem the drapes and tablecloth," Fawn suggested.

"I'll vacuum and mop if you'll help me, Lonnie?" Jane volunteered. Grinning, at the animals, she added, "You little ones can help _us_ , if you like-just don't get sucked into the vacuum!"

"We'll watch them," Jaq assured her.

"Okay," Lonnie agreed, nervously eyeing the youngsters, thinking about the times that Crickee's small size got him into trouble.

"Why don't you clean the windows, Bonnie," Tina suggested, "and I just pop up there and polish the chandelier and replace any burned out lights. We'll make quick work of it."

"You _can't_ just pop up there, Tina," Bonnie reminded her, "No magic, remember?"

"But flying is natural!" Tina protested, "It's not like I'm going to use my wand or sprinkle everyone with pixie dust!"

"I think the birds could do it." Lonnie said.

"But I can do it done faster," Tina argued, "Besides, the birds are helping you."

"I could send them over here…"

"Oh, just let Tina go up," Jane waved her hand impatiently, anxious get started, "We need the birds to help us. I'm sure it will be fine."

Bonnie scowled, "But we agreed not to use magic, Jane _, and_ we wouldn't bend the rule for Florie."

"How else will she get up so high?" Jane asked, nodding at the vaulted Gothic-style ceiling and windows. Won't you both need to fly?"

"A _ladder_ , of course."

"Ugh," Mary muttered, "A ladder would be so cumbersome, especially when you could just pop up and back down again."

"And we need to hurry," Lonnie added, "There's only one ladder.""

Bonnie was sullen, "Oh, just go ahead then. Whatever. But, _I'm_ going to use the ladder."

"Suit yourself," Tina replied, bouncing into the air, rag and hand.

The others watched her zealous working in silence for a minute before shaking off their guilty feelings to go about their business; They were so focused that they didn't hear Florie's return, her arms laden with several colorful bouquets.

The sound of shattering glass made everyone whirled around; Florie's face was as red as her dress.

"What is _this_?" she cried, outraged, " _Tina_ gets to use magic, but I don't? _Guys_ , I was out there sweating up a storm and pricking my fingers a half dozen times on rose thorns, and then I come in here and she is up there floating around just as easy as you please."

" _I told you_ ," Bonnie hissed at Jane.

"And I suppose this was your idea?" the angry fairy pointed her finger at her cousins.

" _No_!" Mary shot back forcefully, "It was _not_ our idea."

"But we did go along with it," Fawn acquiesced.

"That's just as bad," Florie cried angrily, "or worse!" Encompassing everyone in her finger pointing, she raved, " _I knew it, I knew it_! I never should have trusted any of you!"

"Well, now, just a minute," Mary interrupted her tirade, "Cinderella might have roses in her garden, but where did you get those other flowers-and the vases? You weren't gone long enough to run to the store."

Florie instantly turned sullen, not replying.

Mary nodded, knowingly, "I thought so. And since we didn't even _ask_ Cinderella if we could pick her flowers, I suppose you used magic to replace the roses that you took-or maybe you just created them too!"

"I don't have to admit anything to you-it's you guys who broke your word!"

"And you didn't?" Mary snapped.

"Now, just a minute, Florie, Mary," Jane intervened, "Tina says that flying isn't the same as using a wand."

" _It's not_?"

"No, it's not, Florie," Tina explained, alighting gently on the floor, "Flying is naturally for us. We're not using our magic when we fly."

"But _our_ moms, in agreeing to not use magic, went without even flight for sixteen years to keep Queen Aurora away from Mal's mom."

"Oh, get _over_ it already, Florie!" Mary huffed, then gasped sharply when her blue dress changed to red, " _What_? _No way_!"

Suddenly Florie's dress was blue.

"Guys, _wait_!" Jane cried, bolting into the middle of the argument, her dress instantly turning purple when the two colors hit at the same time, "This isn't the time for-"!"

"You should have thought about that a little sooner," Florie snapped, "You know, I was willing to go with nice colorful arrangements for Cinderella's party but now I think that it should have _red_ theme!"

"Cinderella's color has always been _blue_!" Mary shot back.

"Oh no, please!" Lonnie squeaked, choking on her words when her clothes turned purple in the melee.

The other fairy children rushed forward, doing their best to return things to their proper color, but they couldn't keep up and suddenly an ear-splitting squeak stopped everyone in their tracks. Whirling around, Lonnie saw that Jaq's young son had been turned completely purple.

" _Not again_!" she gasped, scooping him up and planting a kiss on his trembling nose.

" _Now, that is enough_!" Bonnie exploded, yanking the wand right out of Florie's hand. Jane did the same to Mary and both fairies shrank back under their friends' withering glare, suddenly aware of what they'd done.

"I don't think we can fix this on our own," Bonnie sighed, surveying the mess with wide eyes, "I'm sorry, Jane, but if your mom is still here...we're going to need her."

"Whatever." Jane shrugged, not caring anymore, "I'll go get her."

"We're so sorry, little one." Florie and Mary knelt down to speak with the child, now cradled in his father's arms on Lonnie's lap, "We're so sorry, Jaq. We're so sorry, Lonnie. We've got no excuse for what we've done."

"Confession is a great start," Fairy Godmother's calm voice resonated throughout the large room, surprising everyone with how quickly she'd arrived, "Thank you girls."

"I want an explanation for this _right now_!" Prince Charming demanded, gripping his shocked wife tightly as they walked in.

"It's all my fault, sir," Florie admitted, "We pledged not to use our magic, but when I saw Tina in the air, polishing the chandelier, I got so mad that I lost my head."

"It's my fault too," Mary admitted, "When I realized that Florie had used magic to create the bouquets, I rubbed it in her face after she was already mad at us for letting Tina fly."

"And mine," Lonnie offered, "I should've insisted that the birds be allowed to clean the chandelier."

"You're the least responsible, Lonnie," Jane said, waving her apology away, "You don't even have magic."

"But, as you said," Lonnie argued, "it's my show."

"Why did you use magic, Tina?" Fairy Godmother asked, holding up her hand for silence, "even though you pledged not too?"

"I-I-I," she began, surprised that she was being interrogated, "I didn't think I was-I'm a pixie; we fly naturally."

Fairy Godmother gave her a weird look, "Just because flying is a part of your essence, don't mean that it's natural when you do it."

"My job was to polish the chandelier and replace the lights." the teenager countered, "Flying was the only way to get up that high."

"What about the ladder?"

"Bonnie was using it-waiting would have wasted precious time."

"Not using magic inherently makes any job longer," Fairy Godmother answered, "That's why it's called magic."

"Whoever is at fault, we can deal with later," Prince Charming interrupted forcefully, "but I want you girls to fix this right _now_! Magic or no!"

"Now, dear," Cinderella answered gently, "I'm sure everything will be fine for dinner tonight."

"I want it to be more than fine," he insisted, "I want it to be perfect-like you."

" _Hush, dear_ ," she gave him a look.

"He is right though; this mess does need cleaning up." Fairy Godmother said, looking around, "The girls don't quite have enough magical skills to put things right, but if you'll just excuse me for a few minutes, I'll go get my wand."

"I'd like the girls to be the principal ones cleaning up," Prince Charming answered stubbornly.

"And so they shall! What would you say about me putting the room's condition back the way it was when they found it? Then they can just start over again."

"That would be _excellent_!"

"Good!"

"Cheer up, girls," Cinderella said, as they waited, "I'm done with the business about Auradon Prep so I can help you." Smiling she added, "And, don't worry, I've seen bigger messes from my old step family!"

" _Really_?" Prince Charming was shocked, "You never told me that."

"It wouldn't have been kind," she pointed out, "especially since Beast exiled them to the Isle."

"Still, you could have told me…"

"And what would you have done?"

"I-I-I would have done _something_."

"Yes, dear, I'm sure you would have,"

"I would have! I-" he started to protest, but Fairy Godmother's return silenced him.

Turning to the teenagers, she reminded them, "I'm going to put this room back the way it was when you came in this afternoon and I want _absolutely no magic_ being used this time, understand?"

" _Yes_!"

"Would you at least save my bouquets, Fairy Godmother?" Florie asked.

"Did you obtain them through magic?"

"Well, yes," Florie was sullen again.

"Then, _no_ , dear," Fairy Godmother shook her head, "I will not."

And, without another word, she walked to the center of the room, spread her arms and pointed her wand towards the ceiling, " _Bibidi babidi boo_!"

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : As usual, my apologies for being so late to update. Even after being on Fanfiction for as long as I have, I still like to imagine that I can get updates out regularly. What a joke, right? Ugh!

At any rate, I'm sure that you noticed that I created a lot of the fairy names. Florie, Fawn, and Mary are the daughters of Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. I once read that Walt Disney was going to make it so they controlled, respectively, plants, animals, and the weather, but he eventually dropped the idea. I think it said that it complicated the plot to much, but I can't remember. Anyways, that's where I got the line about Florie being good with plants. I don't know if they're actually cousins, but it seems to fit them.

Bonnie got her name from Bonnie Blue Butler, the daughter of Rhett and Scarlett in "Gone with the Wind". Maybe it's scraping the bottom of the imagination bowl, but Bonnie Blue's name made me think of the Blue Fairy. Go figure, right?

Tina got her name from an old classmate that I ran into during while I was writing this chapter. Because of that chance meeting, it was the first name that popped into my head when I was thinking about names that sounded sort of like Tinkerbell.

Did you catch the place where I hinted at what Man Camp Day 2 would be in the next chapter?


	5. Man Camp Day 2

Waking up on the dewy ground in the middle of Sherwood Forest came as a shock and, at first, Chad assumed that he was having a nightmare, but the incessant whistling of "It's a Small World" felt like a jackhammer on his brain and he leapt to his feet, ready to kill his roommate.

A booming laugh stopped him in his tracks.

"Hey, Shang?" he asked, blinking rapidly, his chest still heaving with anger.

"Yeah?"

"Could you whistle something else for a while?"

"You don't like my song?"

"Not at this hour." Chad grunted, "I thought it was my roommate back at Prep."

"Okay, I hear ya," Shang laughed again, "I'll let you out of the torture chamber. How about we sing together—something with a little bounce it in, perhaps?"

"I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts," he started, grinning as he handed the teenager a bowl of oatmeal.

"There they are, a-standing in a row," Chad sang out, before he thought about how dorky the whole thing was, "Big ones, small ones, some as big as your head."

They burst into a laugh and they settled onto a hollow log to eat breakfast, speaking little afterward as they concentrated on filled their appetites and breaking up the campsite. The morning was warm as they got underway and they were both thankful for the cover of dense foliage as they moved steadily along the trail.

"Gosh, how did Robin Hood and the Merry Men ever live here all those years?" Chad grumbled a while later, stooping down to pull burrs off his socks, "I've never walked through Sherwood. How long until we get out of here?"

"You gotta go to the bathroom?" Shang teased.

Chad snorted, "I just want to help someone. No one lives in the forest anymore."

" _Sure_ …" Shang laughed again, "We haven't been walking for that long."

"It seems like we've been walking for hours."

"Nah—we're just skirting the edge anyways. The Seven Dwarves don't live to far from here." Shang grinned, "With any luck, they will need help doing _something_. A family _that_ big usually needs one thing or another."

Chad stooped to pick out more burrs.

"Don't bother about the burrs now," Shang grimaced, "It'll be futile until we're out of the woods." He paused, listening, "Hear that?"

"Sounds like someone is angry," Chad said, straining his ears to pick up the distant sound.

"More than _one_ someone," Shang answered thoughtfully, "It sounds like the Seven Dwarves!" He broke into a run, crashing through the underbrush, " _Come on,_ let's go see what's wrong! Maybe we can help!"

"What's up, guys?" he blurted out hoarsely, panting as they burst through the trees into a relatively small clearing.

The seven dwarves and six of their children whirled around, startled into silence, their jaws agape.

"Where's Doug?" Chad asked, counting then in the silence.

He is taking the morning shift at the market," Doc answered, rousing himself from the shock to speaking for his mute brother, "He'll come home to help in a few hours." His eyes bulged when he glanced at his daughter, Dorothy, who was carrying far many boxes, "Uh, thanks, honey."

"On the other hand," Grumpy continued, patting his son's shoulder, "we are trying to do some repairs! I'm telling you, this house is just a big money pit!"

Greg, who was his father's son, gave him a dirty look and wordlessly elbowed his way out of Grumpy's embrace.

"You used to like it," Bashful ventured to tease his brother, earning a cold stare.

" _Dad_ ," his daughter, Betty, said shyly, " _Don't_ irritate him."

"Can we help?" Shang asked.

"I bet you could!" Happy answered, his eyes lighting up.

"Another sucker, come to help?" Hank, his son, asked darkly, grinning like a shark.

Sleepy yawned reflexively, "Why don't we get started?"

"You don't need a nap _now_ , do you, dad?" his daughter, Sally, asked, throwing him a sympathetic smile as she skipped up to relive her cousin of her load. Being energetic and bubbly, she was the opposite of her father, "Whatcha got, Dorothy?"

"This box is soap and wax for the limo and the bus. This one is mop heads and rags. This is paint and paintbrushes for the hallway. This is—"

"Oh, never mind, just give me half of them and I'll look through them and get the stuff where it needs to go."

"You're a real lifesaver, Sally!"

"What are cousins for?"

"You mean, you guys don't hire someone to do repairs?" Chad asked, confused for a moment, "Oh, right."

"This box," Dorothy continued, as she handed several to Sally, "has tools—wrenches, hammers, screwdrivers, you name it. And this one has nuts, bolts, nails—small things like that."

 _"_ _I got it,_ Dorothy," Sally reminded her, "Let me help you!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

Sneezy's son, Seth, rubbed his arms, "Man, I'm starting to get itchy."

"You took your allergy shots this morning, didn't you?" his father asked.

"Of course."

"Don't try to get out of fixing up this dump, Itchy," Hank barked, using his cousin's nickname, as Greg silently sneered.

" _I'm not,"_ Seth retorted, "It's not my fault that I inherited _something_ from my father." He glowered at Hank, "Mr. Darkside."

"Alright, you two, break it up," Doc clapped his hands for attention, "Let's get these chores divided up and get to work. Shang, if you guys are going to help then you're very welcome!" He grinned, "By the way, I think Man Camp is a great idea—can't wait to have one myself, whenever Dorothy gets around to picking someone!" He handed Chad a long sheet of paper, "This is a list of all the chores we need to get done today, son. I think it's only fair that you and Shang get first pick. What would you like?"

"Ah, well," Shang redden, unused to special treatment, "I'll be pleased with any kind of work I get, but you're the newbie Chad so pick something and I'll help you anyway I can."

"We all will," Betty asserted, smiling shyly.

Chad turned a little green as he scanned the list. Much like yesterday, he wondered if Man Camp was really essential before he got married. Surely, someone as charming as himself…

He shook his head, aware that everyone was staring.

"Uh, ah, I-I think that maybe I could mow the lawn? _Yeh, I can do that_! That's easy. I used to watch our groundskeeper do it. All you do is steer, right?"

"Uh, Chad," Hank sneered, "We have a _push_ mower."

"Yeah," Greg rolled his eyes, "Dad is such a tightwad. He said that the newest version of riding mower was too expensive, even though _everyone_ wanted it."

"Might I remind you that it was a _group_ decision!" Grumpy growled, "You _kids_ wanted the easy way out, but your _betters'_ vote counts more because—well, that's obvious."

"You mean, our elders' vote counts more," Greg snapped, crossing his arms over his chest in contempt, "We all know that the only reason you guys' have a bigger vote is because you killed Evie's mom.

"Personally, I think it's a very good reasons," Grumpy retorted, smacking his son with his floppy hat, "That ugly old bat needed to die!"

"Oh, good thing Doug isn't here if you're gonna talk that way about his future mother-in-law!"

" _Seriously, boy_?" his father cocked an eyebrow, "We're talking about the _Evil Queen_ here. Even Evie would agree that her mother belongs on the Isle!"

"Alright, enough arguing," Doc clapped his hands, "We're wasting daylight. Shang, I just thought of the perfect job for you—it requires someone _tall_. The rest of you, decide what you want to do and get to work."

"Come on," Dorothy approached Chad as the others crowded around the list and started arguing again, "I'll show you how to use the lawnmower."

"Thanks," he answered, his face turning red, "I've never done anything like this before."

"Of course, you haven't," she shrugged, pushing him towards a small shed in the backyard, "After all sidekicks have always done the work in Auradon, right?"

"Hey! Ben has given you lots of extra stuff since he became king!"

"True, true," she acknowledged, sighing as she pulled open the door, "Well, anyways, the last mower we had was probably older than dirt so Fairy Godmother got us a new one for Uncle Happy's birthday—it made us _all_ really happy! Even Uncle Grumpy!"

" _I'll bet_ ," Chad smirked, gritting his teeth to hide his nerves, "So, where's the button? How do you start this thing?"

Dorothy laughed, kneeling down as she unscrewed the top off of something, "Well, you don't just hit a button. First, you've gotta check the oil. Oh, good, there's plenty."

"Next," she went on, "you turn this lever over to the choke position and pull this cord." She threw him a lopsided apologetic smile, "Sometimes it doesn't start right away and you have to pull and pull and pull, but I have high hopes that you'll be able to do it!"

"Well, I hope so," Chad muttered, as he began pulling, "I feel like a fool."

She laughed, "I know! It's embarrassing to have to pull and pull and pull!"

"Hmm," she nodded, "five pulls—not bed. Not bad at all." She pointed, "Now, push that lever there into the "pull" mode and off you go."

Walking beside him for a few minutes, hovering like a mother bird, she continued, "It's easiest if you go in a straight line to the edge of our property, then turn back and make another straight line, like you're surveying a grid."

"Hey, Dorothy?" Greg barked from the front porch, where he was filling in holes that had appeared under the front steps, "Are you gonna hold his hand all day or actually work like the rest of us have too?"

"Well, I don't know, Greg," she retorted, hands on her hips, "It depends on how long Chad needs me!"

"I've got it now," Chad whispered, his face flaming, "You can go do something else."

"Are you sure?" she asked, "Don't let Greg the Grump get you down. I mean, you know how he is..."

"Yeah, I got this."

"Okay..."

Chad smiled with relief as he watched her hurrying towards the house, already scolding Seth for working in the flowerbed. Then he faced forward and got back to work.

"Can I help?" a girl's asked quietly, making him jump after he'd completed several lanes. The engine turned off when he stopped pushing.

"Oh, sorry!" Betty giggled, "I guess you'll have to restart it now. It shuts off automatically when you don't hold that bar down." She paused, then added, "Here, let me. It's my fault for startling you anyways."

"Thanks," Chad grumbled, as she started yanking on the cord.

He watched for a minute before his mind began to wander and was soon startled again, "Hurry, hurry, before it shuts off again!"

He sprang to life managed to do a few more rows before disaster struck.

`"What the—" he groaned, his eyes bulging at the sound of a hideous grinding noise. Looking down, he saw the blades hopelessly entangled in bramble weed.

"Great goblins," he swore, flustered enough to use an old swear that he'd picked up while he was pretending to be interested in Evie. Taking a fugitive glance at the house, he reassured himself that no one had noticed before squatting down to untangle the mess.

"Dang," he frowned as the picky weeds tore his flesh; blood made him queasy.

"Need a break?" Seth asked, walking up suddenly with a glass of lemonade in hand, "Dorothy was kind enough to relieve her little cousin and my nose from planting flowers."

"You know it!" Chad sprang to his feet, eager for refreshment..

"Looks like you need some help too…"

"Nah, I got it."

"Sure, whatever dude," Seth ignored him and knelt down, rubbing his itchy nose.

"I said, _I've got this_!" Chad snapped, flush with embarrassment.

"Oh my!" Betty gasped, running up, attracted by his outburst, "I hate it when I do that!"

Chad gave Seth a furious glance

"Hey, man," the younger boy shrugged, unfazed by the prince's rank, "I'm not the one who shouted."

"Seth," Betty lectured, "What are you doing? You know brambles bother your allergies—"

"They won't kill me," he protested, "I officially promise not to die, Betty."

She sighed, "Here, let me do it. Go get Sally; she can help me. You shouldn't—"

"Sally is washing windows." he retorted, "I'm perfectly capable."

"Chad can take over for her," Betty stood firm, glaring at her cousin as she pointed towards the house, "You don't mind, do you Chad?"

"Oh, course not," he answered, laughing weakly, feeling humiliated by all the attention that his mistake had garnered.

"Come on, Chad," Seth muttered, reluctantly coming to his feet, "I might need you to vouch the situation for me. Washing windows is a job that we all sort of covet around here so she'll probably think that I'm just bluffing to get her job." His voice dropped, "I'm always too _young_ to wash the windows."

Dragging the mystified prince by the elbow, he stalked over to where his cousin was carefully polishing the newly-washed stained-glass window that memorialized Snow White's awakening.

"This is my family's most treasured possession." he whispered, "Our folks almost never let any of _us_ near it."

Sally turned around when she heard them behind her, "It didn't make you jealous that they picked me, did it, Seth?"

For a moment, he rested his chin on his fist, like Rodin's statue, then rolled his eyes, "Hmm, let me think?" Then he got down to business, "Chad ran into some bramble weeds with the mower. I was helping him until Betty the Not So Bashful came by. She took over and wants you to help her."

"Why can't you help her?" she asked, defensively shielding her plum chore.

"She doesn't like the prospect of me sneezing all night. Sorry, Sal. Maybe she's been reading the Three Little Pigs again—you know, huff, puff, blow the house down." Seth bumped Chad and pointed at some regular windows that were still smudgy, "Can you get those?

"No sweat," Chad shrugged, trying to sound cool.

"Oh, you sound real sorry," Sally growled, "And who's going to finish the mowing if Chad is helping you wash _my_ windows?"

" _Oh_ ," Seth started, turning beet red, "I guess I didn't think about that. Sorry, Sal—"

"Like I said, you sound real sorry."

"Maybe you could?" Seth suggested, "Washing windows _is_ easier than mowing the lawn.'

"You don't need to coddle me!" Chad's face reddened; grabbing the hose he turned it on and aimed at the house.

"Chad!" Sally shrieked, "Those windows are open!"

"I thought they were just really clean," he yelled, whirling towards her, soaking her with the hose on full blast.

She shrieked again, throwing up her hands to defend the stained-glass window from the hard stream of water, "Turn the pressure down!"

But, to no avail. A golf ball sized hole appeared where the Prince's head used to be and the three teenagers froze, their mouths agape in horror.

"Oh, goblins!" Seth breathed, using the phase that he too had picked up from Evie. He looked left and right, horrified at the idea of getting caught, and sighed with relief.

No one had seen.

"C-Chad—" Sally began, her voice stuttering, "S-Seth—"

"Hey, don't lay this all on _me_!" Chad snapped, interrupting her.

" _What_ , _really_? Are you kidding?" she snapped, her cheeks flush with sudden anger.

"I only turned around because you were screaming at me!"

"You had the hose going full blast through an open window!"

"You could have said it nicely."

"I was startled!"

Okay, okay, guys," Seth broke in, "Do you want everyone else to know about this or do you want to fix it quietly?"

"And how do you propose we do that?" Sally spat, turning her wrath on her cousin.

Seth shrugged helplessly, "One of the fairy children?"

"Oh, _good idea_! I hadn't thought of that!" Sally sighed with sudden relief. Glaring at Chad, she snapped, "Just keep your mouth shut!"

"Hey, I can keep a secret!"

"Well, you'd better or we're all toast!"

"Don't guys!" Seth pleaded, "Keep it down. I'll call Jane right now!"

"We've got to keep the others away from here while he calls," Sally worried, "I can't believe no one noticed yet!"

""What do you want me to do?" Chad asked, mortified by the thought of more negative attention.

 _"_ _Nothing-you've done enough_!"

"Then why'd you ask?"

"I didn't! I was just thinking out loud!" Her cheeks flushed, "I'm sorry, Chad. It's just that this window is so important to our family."

"I'm beginning to see that."

"Bad news, guys," Seth's face was pale, "Nobody is available. They're all helping at the outdoor market like Doug. They can't get away until their shift ends." He turned to Chad, "Jane said to tell you that your mom and Lonnie are shopping though."

 _"_ _Great_! Lonnie is a terrible cook," he made a face, "But my mom will straighten her out!"

"Hey, no standing around on cleaning day!" Greg scowled, suddenly coming around the corner carrying a rack, a shovel, and a pitchfork, "What do you think this place is? Auradon Prep?"

Chad cracked up, "Good one, Greg!"

"I didn't say it to amuse you."

"Why don't you get lost, Greg?" Sally snapped tensely, silently pleading that he wouldn't notice the window.

"Because I want to know why you're all just standing around while I'm slaving like Cinderella." he retorted cynically.

"We were, uh," Seth tired to think, "Giving Chad some pointers. He's never washed windows before."

"Nice try," Greg smirked, "What are you _really_ doing?"

"It's true!" Sally vouched, her voice squeaking unnaturally; Greg's eyebrow arched.

"What's wrong, Sal?"

"Never you mind, Greg!" She tossed her head in defiance.

"Holy cow!" he gasped, her movement allowing him to catch a glimpse of the broken window, "You guys are in _so_ much trouble!"

"Why don't you just get lost?" Seth growled.

"Oh, oh, if only you could be so lucky," he chuckled, "On second thought...maybe I _should_ leave. After all, the _others_ —"

"Don't you dare breathe a word about this!" Sally snapped, "It was an accident and we'll have it fixed before-"

"Before I can give a little whistle?" Greg mocked, "or say supercalifragilisticexpialidocious?"

"Well, it wasn't my fault!" Chad asserted, sticking his chin out stubbornly.

"Shut up, Chad!" Seth hissed, "This isn't the time for that."

"Hey, Greg!" Hank called, coming around the corner, awkwardly hoisting a large box, "What's the hold up? This thing is heavy!"

"Oh, just great," Sally muttered, closing her eyes for a moment, " _Both_ of them."

"Lookie what I found, Hank" Greg answered, pointing to the window.

" _Holy cow_!"

" _Greg_ ," Sally hissed, "Why can't—"

"Whoa, are you guys ever gonna be in trouble!"

" _We're aware of that, Hank_!" Seth snapped, " _Thank you_!"

"Hey, what about Mal?" Chad asked, a huge smile lighting up his face, "Since the _good_ fairy children can't come!"

" _Chad_!" Seth whirled around, his face alight with gratitude " _I think that would work_!"

"Oh course, it will!"

"I'll call her now!" Seth continued, fumbling with his phone in his delight.

"Don't you think everyone should be here to witness the restoration?" Hank asked.

"If you ever tell _anyone_ about this," Sally snapped, "you'll be living happily ever after in the _mine_ the next time we go down! And that's a _promise_!"

"Mal's on her way!" Seth announced, hanging up.

"You mean Mal is here,"

Everyone whirled around as the purple clad VK smiled with a shrug.

"I may have donated my spell book to the museum, but mom made me commit a few to memory. Teleportation was one of them."

"Fairy Godmother won't like it," Greg shook his head.

"She need not know," Mal glared then turned to the window, "Uh-oh…"

"Can you fix it?" Sally squeaked again

"Unfortunately, the spell to fix _that_ is not up here." she tapped her head and snapped her gum.

"Told ya," Hank laughed, he looped an arm around Greg's neck, "Maybe Greg and I ought to-"

" _No_!" Seth, Sally, Mal, and Chad yelped in unison.

" _Stop right there_!" Mal continued, her eyes flashing green for the first time in months, "You three," she glanced at Sally, Seth, and Chad, "Stand well back."

"B-I-T-E What does that spell?" she continued, waving her arms, mesmerizing the boys, "Bite, bite, bite. Speak no words will cause a fright. What's a bark without a bite?"

Instantly, Greg and Hank started yapping and barking, growing more hysterical when they realized that they couldn't speak.

Mal laughed, "Mom used to say that to Evie and I all the time. Of course, it didn't work on the Isle, but I know it by heart." She turned to the boys, "Sit, stay."

"That ought to hold them until I get back."

"Where are you going?" Seth asked urgently, bordering on panic.

I'm just gonna teleport to the museum, grab my spell book, and be right back to fix this."

"Well, alright…"

"Trust me—I'm a VK. No one will ever know. You want me to fix the window, right?"

"More than anything!" Sally pleaded.

Okay, then!" She spoke through a purple mist, already gone.

"What do we do with them?" Chad asked, pointing at the barking boys, "If they keep it up—"

"Quiet, boys!" Seth hissed, "Or I'll tell Mal not to change you back!"

"Kind of seems like an improvement," Mal said laughing, spell book in hand.

"Wow! That was fast!" Sally gasped.

"Auradon security is a joke," Mal shrugged, "I've been trying to get Ben to upgrade it but...well, anyways, here goes…Piece of cake, fix this break!"

"Oh, wow!" Sally gushed, gawking at the restored window, "You just don't know how much this means to us!"

" _Boy_ , you saved our skins," Seth added, heaving a sigh, "I don't know what they would have done if-"

Mal chuckled, "It probably wouldn't have been as bad as anything _my_ mom would've done."

"Well, maybe not," Sally countered, "but we're not from the Isle so…"

"No, you're not." Mal agreed, then waved, "Well, then, I guess I'm off-wouldn't want any awkward questions about what I'm doing here, right?"

"No, don't go!" Sally pleaded, holding out her hands, "Stay for lunch. We'll eat when Doug get here. Any minute, I'm sure. No one will mind!"

Suddenly an explosion of barking sounded behind them.

"Oh, yeah." Mal grinned wickedly, "I forgot about them, didn't I? Have they been good boys?"

" _Well—_ " Sally smirked.

Another explosion of barking interrupted her.

"Okay boys, repeat after me. Bark, woof, bark, bow wow, bark, grr."

"Boy, are you ever gonna be in trouble, Mal," Hank snarled a moment later, "Trespass, stealing, using spells-"

" _Whoa_ , _hey_ ," she held up her hands, " _First off_ , using spells is _not_ against the law around here and, second, if I hadn't trespassed and stole, you guys would still be _barking_. Her eyes flashed green, "Don't make me regret changing you back!"

"Hey guys," Doug interrupted, coming up from behind, pulling a small red wagon heavily laden with food, "What are you doing here, Mal? Chad?"

"Oh, you know me, Doug," she answered, spinning around with a nervous laugh, hoping that he hadn't heard her threats, "I just like to pop in every now and again-royal girlfriend and all, you know?" She laughed nervously again.

"Shang and I stopped by to help," Chad answered, "You know, Man Camp."

"Well, I best be going," Mal waved, hoping to depart without further delay.

"No, no, don't go. I brought lunch," Doug, hastily invited, "Fairy godmother said it was on the house because I did such a great job helping Lonnie. I'm sure they'll be more than enough for you to eat with us."

" _You_ helped Lonnie?" Chad was incredulous, "Isn't that my mom's job? _Wife_ Camp, you know…"

"Their list was long so she split it with Lonnie," Doug explained, "and I just happened to be nearby so she asked me to go with her.'

"Evie said that you do all the cooking around here anyways," Mal interjected.

" _Excuse me_?" Greg asked.

"You're excused, Greg," Doug answered pointedly.

"What about the time—" Greg started.

"Everyone got food poisoning that night," Doug snapped. "Now," he continued, moving forward, "we can continue this discussion but I'd much rather do it while we're eating. What do you say, Mal?

"Well, okay," she sighed, as if she was still reluctant, then she beamed, "I mean, _sold_!"

"Alight!" Sally whooped.

"I'm back," Doug called, leading the little troupe into the front yard, "Fairy Godmother gave us a good lunch because I was very helpful at the market this morning."

"Free food?" Doc applauded, "I like it!"

" _Bah_!" Grumpy snorted, "Nothing is free."

"It is if Fairy Godmother says it is," Happy retorted with a giggle in his voice, slapping his ill-tempered brother's back

" _Bah_!"

"Now, Grumpy…" Sleepy said, trying to stifle a yawn.

" _Bah_!"

"Well, _let's eat_!" Shang intervened, an elated look in his eyes as he wiped the sweat off his face with his sweaty arm, "Man, I'm starved! I don't think I've done as big project as that since Lonnie was a toddler-I love it!"

"How'd you do, Chad?" he added, looking expectant.

"Uh, oh, good— _great!_ " His face turned beet-red.

Shang grinned, "That's great! I hope you can be spare yourself this afternoon though because I need your help to paint a hallway."

"So, what's in that wagon, Doug?" Happy asked, patting his ample stomach, "I'm ready to eat!"

"I hope it's nothing that Seth and I are allergic to." Sneezy added, wiping his nose.

"Dad…"

Sleepy yawned, "I just want a quick bite and then a nice little afternoon nap after the work is done."

"You'll sleep better if you don't nap during the day," Doc admonished.

"I always sleep well, no matter what."

Doug and Dorothy began setting heavily laden dishes on a picnic table while Doug read off the menu, "I've got several kinds of hot sandwiches: roast beef, grilled cheese with ham, pulled pork, and spicy chicken. For sides, there's artichoke salad, pea salad, macaroni and cheese, ambrosia, quinoa, potato salad, and crab cakes. Drinks include, iced tea, both sweet, unsweet, and flavored, lemonade, limeade, orangeade, hot tea. I told her not to bother with bottled water."

"I can't believe Fairy Godmother got all that food into this wagon," Bashful ventured to say.

"It's magic, Uncle Bashful," Doug answered with a grin, "Her specialty."

"Well, not exactly her specialty nowadays!" Chad answered.

"Everything looks _great_!" Doc took charge, "But, I think it's only fair to let our guest go first...Shang, Mal, Chad?"

"No problem there!" Mal bounced forward, quickly piling her paper plate high, as if she was on some sort of raid. Then she stopped, sensing the uncomfortable silence in the air, "Oh, sorry: I was having a Isle moment. Man," she laughed, "you didn't offer to let someone butt you in line _there_ , unless you wanted to starve!"

"No problem," Happy waved away the faux pas.

" _No problem_?" Hank growled, in Chad's ear, "Is he kidding? That girl is engaged to our _king_ ; she's going to be our _queen_ one day and she's still having _Isle moments_? _Are you kidding_?"

I know, right?" Chad agreed, snorting incredulously.

Chad…" Shang warned.

But the prince had turned away and quickly found a seat between Hank and Greg.

"Hey, Chad!" Shang jogged up to him an hour later, after lunch was cleared away, "Can we talk?"

"Uh, sure…"

"Good, come on. We can talk while we paint."

"Oh, yeah," he suddenly remembered the windows and the mowing, "I wasn't done—"

"Happy sent Hank to finish the lawn," Shang waved aside the objection. He chuckled, "I heard you got it caught in the brambles."

"What else did you hear?" the prince asked realizing that his mentee didn't know about the window incident.

Looping his arm around the teenager's shoulders, Shang put the question off as paranoia and half dragged him into the dwarves' large cottage, "Say, I was just wondering, why were you picking on Mal at lunch?"

" _What_?"

"Come on, Chad, don't do that. You know what I'm talking about."

"Well, she has no manners, for one thing," he began, "I mean, how will an Isle moment look at the Cotillion?"

"I don't suspect that Ben is concerned about that, nor anyone else. I'm certainly not." Shang had a tiny edge in his voice, "The VK's are a special bunch, Chad, I really respect them for what they've accomplished in such a short time." He chuckled, "It took Mulan longer to get used to boot camp!"

"But, anyways," he changed the subject as they entered a long hallway; its green paint faded and badly chipped " _This_ is the hallway that needs repainting. You with me?"

"I've never done it."

"Good, new blood," Shang grinned almost sardonically, "Come on, I'll show you." He pulled a bottle out of his pocket, "First we fill in all the little holes with caulk, then we sand it down so it's nice and smooth, and _then_ we paint."

"Okay, okay," Chad steeled himself, "I can do this!"

"That's the spirit!"

"How did it get all these holes?" Chad asked, "My mom would kill me if our walls looked like this."

"Not necessarily," Shang shrugged, "They could be nail holes where a picture or photos were hung. Or maybe there was a shelf. You can't paint a wall with stuff hanging on it. I bet no one did anything in violence. Can you imagine what the seven dwarfs would do if someone was violent in the house?"

"No, I guess not," Chad admitted, looking at the floor for a moment, then he glanced both ways, "What color do they want it? I think we've got all the holes."

"Same as what's up here already. Help me lay newspapers down the length of the hall to catch the drips and we'll get started." He pointed, "Sneezy told me that there are some step ladders in that closet over there. I already got the paint and brushes from Dorothy."

"So, how do we begin?" Chad asked, returning with two ladders in hand, "The most that I've ever painted is in art class."

"That's a good place to start," Shang replied, "Basically, we start at the top and paint down. There's one color and nothing elaborate. It's simple and straightforward."

"It sounds like it..." the teenager answered doubtfully.

"That because it is! Don't worry!" Shang checked the time on his phone, "Oh! We ought to hurry. I hear the grand finale of cleaning day is washing the bus."

Chad's eyes grew as big as saucers, " _That's_ the grand finale? _Seriously_? What kind of grand finale is that?

Shang smirked, "I have no idea, but I can't wait to find out!"

They worked steadily for what seemed like hours, enjoying the coolness of the house after being in the blazing sun. Then the front door slammed shut and they heard the shuffling of footsteps.

"Hey, guys?" Bashful's soft voice questioned rather than commanded, "You ready to wash the bus?"

"Of course!" Shang enthused, hopping down, "We can let this coat dry while we do that. Come on, Chad! I've been waiting for this!" He bounded after Bashful, missing the grimace Chad made as he surveyed his paint smeared shirt.

"Great…" He was not looking forward to wearing it for the rest of the week.

Excitement was clearly in the air as they emerged from the house to join the others, "Why are you still here, Mal?"

"Are you kidding?" she replied, "Evie told me about this tradition and I'm not gonna miss out! I've been busting my dragon tail all afternoon for this!"

"Evie washed the bus?"

"With Doug, yeah. She had a blast!" she laughed, "I didn't believe it at first, but she had photos on her phone. Just wait, there's a surprise at the beginning!"

"Oh, goodie…"

"Okay, newbies!" Doc clapped his hands loudly and waved for attention, "Front and center!"

"Here it comes!" Mal clapped, almost gleeful and she took her place between Shang and Chad.

"What the—?" Chad started to whisper, but Doc spoke again.

"As you may or may not have heard," he said, while turning on the hose, "we seven dwarves and our children have a special initiation when someone new comes to help us clean house. All three of you have done an _amazing_ job today and so I am pleased to do... _this_!"

And with that, he soaked them.

* * *

 **Author's Notes** : I'm sorry for the long delay, but here's the next installment!

I finally read the Isle of the Lost books! They're awesome! I know "Greg" is "Gordon" in the books but when I started this chapter, I hadn't read the books.


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